Dog Breath or Loud Mouth
by Zynthos
Summary: Kiba has pledged his love to Hinata. What is her reaction? How is Naruto mixed up in this? How will the effect Naruto and Kiba's friendship? [NaruHina]
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - Dog Breath or Loud Mouth

by Zynthos

Dog breath or loud mouth, how do I get myself into these sorts of situations? **sigh** If Ten-Ten, Sakura or even Ino were in my position they would know what to do. Then why did Kami-sama have to place me, ME of all people, in this situation… It's been nearly half a year. Half a year since Kiba told me his secret. Half a year since he told me that he loved me… Six months later he still tells me that. He won't let me forget. I can no longer sleep for fear of a nightmare.

It's nearly dawn now. The streets of Konoha are silent, expectant of another dull, boring day, but the beating of my heart and the cacophony in my mind could fill the city ten times overflowing with sound all of it confined in my small, pitiful body. I'll get up in a few moments to get ready. But get ready for what? The day? What is there in the day to get ready for? Training? Hardly. Missions? No. Friends? Perhaps. Picture after picture lining the walls can attest to that. Pictures of my friends, my teachers, my family, my team… the four of us, Kurenai-sensei, Shino, Me… and Kiba, they've become my second family. No, my first family. The family that actually cares for a weakling like me. After Okaasan died, Kurenai-sensei became my mother. I can tell her almost anything, but it is with my girlfriends that I find my solitude. Ten-Ten, loud but cheerful. Sakura, even louder but a great friend indeed. And Ino, even louder then both of them combined, but a helper to those in need. They are the foundation of my life. Without them I would tumble over like the tower of Babel. They keep me sane when HE isn't around.

Ever since he got back from his training with Jiraiya, we've gotten to know each other. Little by little we've become closer friends. I've worked my way up to where I can hold a conversation with him. Of course eye contact is rarely ever involved, and whenever it occurs, he is the one that initiates it. I don't care. Just being around him gets my pulse beating and my heart soaring. I know that I've got a long ways to go, but as Hokage-sama once said "love where you are, and grow from there".

The sun is coming up and the birds are starting to wake up. What a beautiful sunrise. Fresh air in one's lungs sure can do wonders. Looking out into the horizon, a picture of him appears in my mind. The landscape reminds me of him. His hair as bright and golden as the sun, his eyes, blue and vast like the skies above. I realize it now, the reason for getting ready for the day. It's because of him. For him. For the man in my smallest, most precious picture, the one lying on my desk, placed there only for the viewing pleasure of my selfish eyes.

Please, please notice me. Please see me as something more then just a friend. I don't know how much longer I can wait. No. I can wait for all eternity until you see what I feel. But the troubles and confusions of life grow everyday. Pressure coming from all directions, especially from my brown haired teammate. Please, for the sake of my heart and soul. Love me. Naruto. Please…

-Hinata Hyuga

February 14

Valentines Day

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AN: I've read many stories on this site and I have a friend who writes occationally but this is my first attempt at a story. It's mainly just trying somthing out and to help improve my writing skills (or lack of). I'm planning on trying different styles of writing (you might see humor or action) though knowing myself I might end up not changing styles at all. As this is my first story, and I am writing it to improve my non-existent writing skills comments about writing technique would be appriciated. The storyline is also not established even though I draw a lot of ideas from my own life. I have to thank Kovva for time and help. That's it.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank-you all who read the first chapter. The second one is the actual start of the story. Props to **City With no People** for reviewing, and **Starfairy14s** for the wonderful insight. Well, forward we march...

note: I do not own Naruto... not even a Naruto keychain...

_"thinking"_

_flashbacks_

"talking"

Chapter 2 - The Jacket

by Zynthos

Naruto woke up for the first time in weeks not to the monotone beeping of a travel alarm clock but to the sound of feet hitting pavement and the laughter of the Konoha citizens. He cherished the fact that he could wake up at his own leisure and that he didn't have to be battle ready immediately after his head lifted off the ground, and that he didn't need to sleep on the ground at all. Granted, he enjoyed himself whenever he was out on a mission, and loved the excitement of taking on an operation, however, he had begun to feel lonely out on the field. It wasn't because he had someone special waiting for him back home. Heck, none of his friends, not even Kakashi-sensei really knew who he actually was, and what was hiding behind the mask he wore; I mean, when a murderous traitor is your best friend something has got to be wrong with your friendships. Naruto didn't blame them. Years of practice had made him a master of disguising his face and so the fact that he had no close friends was not surprising.

Throwing off his bed sheets he rushed through his morning routine wanting to get to the one thing on his mind "_Ramen!!"_. Five minutes later Naruto rushed out of his little apartment taking time only to slip on his infamous orange jacket. As he raced to his favorite ramen bar his thoughts became reminiscent, thinking about the jacket on his back.

_Flashback:_

_Naruto was surprised when he was called into the Hokage's office. He didn't expect to get caught for drawing mustaches on the Hokage monument until next week. The thought kept Naruto from bouncing around the spacious office. He had always thought the room was too bare and had tried to convince the Hokage to spruce up the dreary room. The response he got was two very fake looking trees adorning each side of the desk found in the center of the room and a picture of a house hanging on the wall. Old people had the weirdest sense of liveliness. His thoughts were interrupted by a cough and he turned his head to see the Hokage who had just entered the room. His mind began preparing for the "You should be a responsible young man speech" or the "you need to be intentional in your actions lecture". He didn't even know what intentional meant! _

_He was surprised when the Hokage in stead handed him a brown package. The letterhead was addressed to Naruto. Saying the said person was surprised would have been an understatement. He never got mail. He didn't even own a mailbox, which was probably the reason why the package was passed to the Hokage. Naruto excitedly ripped the wrapping off and gave a loud yell of triumph as he held up his new bright orange jacket. It smelled of lilies. He picked up a card that had fallen from the massacred wrapping paper and look over it once. His face instantly brightened up. "Merry Christmas Naruto-kun" was all it said. Assuming it was the Hokage's present Naruto jumped up over the desk and gave the older man a tight embrace. "Thanks old man!" exclaimed the boy newly clad in orange. "Oh don't thank me," was the reply, "It isn't my gift. Besides I need you to clean up the mess you made on the Hokage monument. They need someone to help them shave...". Upon hearing the Hokage Naruto jumped off the desk, and while making a speedy getaway cried behind his back "See ya old man"…_

_End flashback._

Ever since that day, Naruto was never seen without his jacket. Naruto cherished the loud gift because it gave him a sense of being noticed, something he had strived for every day of his life. It really was quite silly now that he thought about it, being this attached to a piece of clothing, but it was one of the few treasured possessions that brought him comfort. It was a sad substitute for a family indeed. He had wondered a couple of times who the gift giver was, but was either too busy with training, ramen, or both, to give it much thought. Naruto was sure, however, that he could become friends with whoever the mystery person was. Maybe even a close friend unhindered by his façade. "_No_", he thought cynically, "_that could never happen_".

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Hinata quietly left the Hyuga mansion and headed towards the training grounds to meet her teammates. Even though they had all been named Chunin, Team 8, along with the rest of the rookie 9 and Team Gai still worked with their respected genin teams. No one complained about the fact, and no one brought it up to the Hokage who would have done nothing anyways. Because of this, each team learned to fight together as a single unit eventually building up a reputation among the shinobi nations as the up and coming wave of shinobi that would push Konoha into the position of "strongest hidden village". Hinata looked around before walking on the main road. She knew it was inevitable, but she wanted to postpone meeting up with Kiba as long as possible. He had gotten up early so that he could walk with her to the training grounds all the while spouting out how beautiful she looked that morning, and how she smelled of lilies (he is a dog trainer, he smells things). Kiba's flirting was embarrassing Hinata terribly but she was way too polite, not to mention embarrassed, to tell Kiba to stop. The only sign of discomfort was a very red flush, and her best effort to ignore him. Kiba saw it as a good sign. After all, the only other person she had blushed for was Naruto.

The field was void of people when Hinata showed up at the training grounds. "_That's good_" she thought to herself as she sat down under an oak tree. She then took out a scroll from her pack and began to read. She found that reading each morning before training drained her from any stress beforehand and helped her relax the rest of the day. Considering the stress from family, from the new found responsibilities of being a freshly appointed Chunin, and from her own personal anxieties, every little bit helped. She enjoyed fiction novels once in a while, but the book she currently held talked about different ethical beliefs. It was rather ironic, since a ninja was suppose to kill his or her beliefs and morals in order to complete missions. "_I guess that's what I like about Konoha"_ Hinata thought to herself "_beliefs and different morals are accepted here"_. She looked up from her book when she heard footsteps walking toward her. All she could see was red as something sweet-smelling was thrust towards her face. "Happy Valentine's day, Hinata!" a voice said from behind the bush of red. A bark was heard as well. Looking passed the flora Hinata saw Shino standing next to Kiba who had his arm extended towards her holding a dozen red roses. "_Score!"_ thought Kiba as he witnessed Hinata's cheeks turn a light pink. He didn't notice the slightly annoyed look on her face. Besides, how could Hinata be annoyed by anything? "Make sure none of Shino's bugs eat any of the flowers" the dog trainer said trying to lighten the mood. Hinata grinned at the comment. Shino stood as stoic as ever. "Say, Hinata," Kiba continued, "Do you want to have lunch with me after we finish training?" "I don't know… I have to get home and… serve the tea to Niji-nissan and otousan." Hinata quickly said as an excuse to not join Kiba for lunch. "Oh come on Hinata. You're going to make me cry" said the first while giving his best puppy pout (a forced to be reckoned with when applied by a dog user). Sighing in defeat Hinata let her guilt triumph and agreed to a meal with her teammate.

Shino silently observed as the incident unfolded. Then quietly, unnoticed by his teammates turned around as if nothing happened.

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Naruto had just finished his 11th bowl of ramen. He sat there after he has slurped the few stray noodles from the bowl silently deciding whether or not to eat a dozen bowls this morning or to stop at eleven. Naturally he opted for one more. People always warned Naruto about eating too much ramen. "You'll grow fat" they said. "You are going to be stuck as a shorty" they said. He was neither of these as the shinobi training had kept him well built, and a couple of years ago, as a sixteen year old, he had hit his growth spurt. His thoughts drifted back to his orange jacket. There was nothing wrong with an orange colored jacket was there? Even if he was a shinobi right?

Earlier, before he could start on his 4th bowl, a chunin had walked into the ramen bar loudly talking to a fellow shinobi next to him. They had sat down on the stools next to Naruto. It wasn't Naruto's fault for eavesdropping on the conversation. Their voices could be heard on the other side of the street. Besides, the story the chunin was telling the other about a recent mission was rather entertaining. Evidently, the shinobi storyteller did not appreciate the blond haired kid he recognized as the jinchuriki listening to his tale. With a malevolent smirk on his face he continued the story as if nothing was wrong. Eventually he started to describe a village he had visited.

­

_Flashback:_

"_So what was so bad 'bout the village neh?"_

"_Well, there was this REALLY annoying brat there. He actually considered himself a shinobi but it was obvious he was only a loser. He was an ignorant fool."_

"_Why'dee stand out neh?"_

"_HA! It's ironic you should ask why he stood out. The moron was wearing a bright orange jacket that pretty much screamed 'I'm an idiot. Kill me first!'. I'd never want him to be on my team during a mission. He'd probably get us killed with his loud mouth, and even louder jacket." He turned away from his comrade and glared straight at Naruto. "I bet he has absolutely no friends." Maybe Naruto was thick headed, but he wasn't stupid. Many people viewed him as someone with a huge ego and a short temper, but that was not the case either. Even though he would not allow anybody to hurt one of his precious people in any way, Naruto had been hurt enough physically, mentally, and emotionally to build calluses against such abuse. This was not to say it didn't hurt, but rather that he didn't have to start a fight over it. Naruto had decided to take an early leave from his breakfast and was about to leave the shop when an angry, red-faced Teuchi Ichiraku, who had seen the whole transaction, ordered the two shinobi out of his shop. The two ninja just smirked and walked towards the door, but not before knocking Naruto's unfinished bowl or ramen spilling over Naruto and onto the floor. "Oops" one said as they stepped out onto the street laughing at the younger nins "misfortune". _

"_Thanks old man" was all Naruto could say as Teuchi sadly looked at him._

_End flashback_

Naruto wasn't about to let a couple of stupid chunin bother him _"They're just fools"­_ Naruto assured himself. Sitting up straight after finishing the last few remains of his twelfth bowl he turned around at the sound of someone walking towards him. Sakura sat down next to Naruto. "Hey, I figured I'd find you here" the pink haired Kunoichi joked with a grin. "Hey!" replied Naruto "This is only the **greatest** restaurant in the whole world, no scratch that, the whole universe!" Both shinobi laughed at the proclamation. "Naruto, would you mind training with me after you finish your meal?" Sakura asked after they had both stopped laughing. "Sure thing. Just let me pay the old man and we'll be off." Naruto replied. "Say Sakura-chan," Naruto continued as he paid Teuchi for the meal, "Do you think I should get rid of my jacket?"

"Why do you ask Naruto?"

"No reason, I was just wondering that's all"

"Well now that you mentioned it, it is a bit raggity"

"Oh, thanks Saku…"

"And it's stained with heaven knows what."

"I see, wel…"

"If it were me I would have through" concluded Sakura

"ok, thanks Sakura-chan. Look, I just realized I forgot to do something at home. I'll have to train with you some other time"

"Ok, then I'll see you around"

"Yeah… see you later…" Naruto replied as the two shinobi split up

Naruto walked down the market district of Konoha deep in thought, something he found himself to do a lot more often these days (thinking, not walking down the street). _"It is getting a bit small nowadays,"­_ he thought to himself. One part of him wanted to get rid of his old jacket but part of him wanted to keep it on. As he strolled along he found himself in front of a clothing store. _"Ah, what the heck"_ trying to keep losing his treasured piece of clothing as trivial sounding as possible. _"Note to self. Never ask a girl about clothes."_ He thought to himself as he walked into the store.

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Hinata walked out of the store with a lily in her hand. She had survived her first "date", as Kiba liked to call it, with the dog shinobi. After eating at the new café, where Kiba had insisted on paying for both of them, they had gone to the market district to look at the different trinkets made by the artisans of the village. When they had stopped at the

Yamanaka flower store to greet Ino, Kiba had immediately seized the chance and once again insisted, this time, on buying Hinata a rose. After much debate both parties agreed that a lily would act as a sufficient compromise. Thus they found themselves in front of the line of shops. If Hinata had not liked Naruto she would have thought Kiba's actions to have been quite gentlemen like. Even now she was grateful for their friendship. Hinata thanked Kiba for the flower and the two were about to part ways when they both heard a voice. "You two are a rather odd couple," Naruto said as he jumped from his perch on top of the roof of the store. He was met by a blushing Hinata, a slightly miffed Kiba, and Ino's head as she popped it out of the shop door. "I kid" Naruto said to cover up his first comment, but _"not really"_ was added in his head. _"Oh no!"_ Hinata thought in a panic _"Naruto-kun thinks that Kiba and I are a couple!"_ "N-naruto-kun I-it is-sn't really l-like that!" Hinata said trying to make her Naruto-kun believe her. All she got was the famous Uzumaki grin. Ino smirked knowingly.

"Kiba, are we still on for Monday?" Naruto asked trying to change the subject.

"You bet. Shikamaru, Neji, and Choji are all coming."

"Awesome"

"Ano… N-naruto-kun?" Hinata interrupted, "W-where is your j-jacket?"

"Oh, that old thing? Heh. I figured I'd try a wardrobe change yeah? Do you like it Hinata?" Naruto was wearing black hoodie with a tan jacket over it. He also wore dark gray kaki pants. They gave a great contrast to his bright blond hair and light cerulean eyes. A soft "yes" was heard coming from Hinata's lips but tears were streaming down her face.

"Ano? Hinata, what's wrong?" Naruto, followed by Kiba and Ino, rushed up to Hinata to try to comfort her. _"What's wrong?"_ Hinata repeated in her head, _"how could you get rid of that jacket Naruto-kun?"_ Not only had Hinata associated the jacket with Naruto, she was the one that had given it to him.

_Flashback:_

_A 7 year old Hyuga Hinata was walking out of the academy doors. She sat down on the side of the stairs letting the other students pass by. As she waited for her okaasan she huddled inside the new coat that she had gotten for Christmas. It was the middle of the winter, and she was glad she had something warm to shield her from the cold. She watched the other kids as they walked by; they also had thick winter coats like the one she was wearing. Her eyes stopped panning when she spotted Naruto sitting alone on a swing shivering in the cold. The only thing he was wearing was a thin tee-shirt! Hinata would have gone over to Naruto to help him had she been less shy and her mother had not just shown up. _

"_Okaasan?" the young Hyuga heir said _

"_Yes dear?"_

"_Do you think we could stop at the clothing store before going home? I want to use my allowance money"_

"_Why is that dear?"_

"_Naruto-kun looks cold" Her mother smiled at this_

"_Yes, I think we can make a short trip to the store"_

_End Flashback_

She could only buy an orange windbreaker with the limited money she had, and had been too shy to give it to her crush face to face, so much in fact that she couldn't even build up enough courage to leave it at his house in fear that he would see her. She had decided on giving the gift to the Hokage to deliver. That's why it upset her so much. Getting rid of the jacket was like throwing away her affection for him.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Naruto spoke up. "I don't know what's wrong, and I can only guess, but Hinata, you of all people should know that change is a good thing. I don't know why that jacket was so important to you but that jacket was very important to me as well… It was my first gift ever…" Hinata looked up, surprised by this. To not receive a gift until you were 8 while watching the other children get Christmas and birthday gifts must have been horrible. "I don't plan on throwing it away," Naruto continued. "Until Iruka-sensei, the little gifts that I got on Christmas and my birthday were what made me the most happy. I realize that somebody out there actually cared for me." Hinata continued to cry, but instead of crying over loosing a jacket, she now weeped over what Naruto had to go through. She wiped the tears from her eyes and gave her best smile. Under the circumstances, the grin looked half forced, but neither Hinata nor Naruto cared.

The atmosphere lightened considerably after that. Everyone in the group was very happy about the lighter mood, considering how thick the atmosphere was before. "You know Hinata, he's kind of cute in those clothes. That color really accentuates his eyes." Ino whispered to Hinata as she scooted next to her. Ino winked, Hinata blushed deep crimson, and the thought _"girls are weird"_ crossed Naruto's mind more then once.

The mood was once again changed when Sakura arrived on the scene. "Hokage-sama want's you at the tower pronto! She says it's an emergency!" Thoughts of cute boys and weird girls were immediately chased out of the shinobi's minds when they heard they had a mission. Well, almost chased out. _"Must be important since obaa-chan called us in the middle of the day,"_ Naruto thought as he and the rest of the shinobi rushed to the Hokage tower.

No one felt the eyes following them as the group hurried down the street. Two figures watched as they made it to the end of the street.

"Is it ready?" asked the first.

"Of course." replied the second.

"It's going to be so easy to take what we came for"

"And destroying the village will be an added bonus"

Both figures fought down urges to brake out in an evil cackle.

To be continued…

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AN: Well that took a while. I have new found admiration for the authors who can update daily. This chapter took way too much of my homework time so don't expect the next chapter until about a week or two (probably closer to the later). If I still haven't posted by then send me a message asking what's up. I most likely forgot or something. Just like last time, send me ideas for storyline ideas and my writing always needs help. Thanks once again to **Kovva** and **Krissy-chan** for being beta readers. That's it.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks Crazy no Jutsu for the review. And Starfairy14s it's always great to hear from you. yep.

note: I do not own Naruto, in fact, I don't own anyone. That is considered illegal.

_"thinking"_

"talking"

Chapter 3 - Calm Before the Storm

by Zynthos

A group of five shinobi rushed up to the Hokage's tower, excitedly led by a blonde haired, whisker faced youth of sixteen. Behind him, pulled along by the former, was a stumbling, cute faced young woman. Her awkward footfall had less to do with the speed of the one in front of her and more to do with the hand that gripped her own. In his haste Naruto had grabbed Hinata's hand, urging her on. It was such a Naruto thing to do, and she knew there were no feelings exchanged through the simple gesture, but still, Hinata couldn't help but let her hopes run wild.

Following the two was a group of three: a pink haired kunoichi and a blond haired kunouchi separated by a brown haired youth with red marks underneath his eyes. A dog was following closely behind. The two girls exchanged knowing looks about the situation ahead, while the dog trainer just scowled.

As they ran up the steps they were immediately ushered in by a chunin. Tsunade was sitting in her chair, facing away from the group, looking out into the village. When she heard the shinobi walk into her office, she turned around, showing her grim expression to all of them.

"I need you to pack your things and be ready to leave within 2 hours," began the Hokage. "You will get our mission instructions at the east gate. That is all".

"Hey, Obaa-chan, why aren't you giving the instructions to us now neh?" a very loud Shinobi asked. A stress mark appeared on Tsunade's forehead.

"Naruto-kun..." a blushing kunoichi sitting next to Naruto whispered as a warning.

"We are waiting for information," replied the Hokage "That's all you need to know. Now GET OUT!"

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"Sheesh!" Naruto exclaimed, "Obaa-chan is really on edge today."

"Well duh," replied Ino, "I would be too if you asked me questions like that, stupid."

"Yeah, I agree with Ino-pig," continued Sakura.

"Hey! Who you calling Ino-pig, Forehead girl?"

"Snout nose!"

"Billboard brow!"

"Shut up!" Kiba cried, "You're giving me a headache!"

"Don't suppress the females!" Ino shouted back.

"What?!"

"ano…" said the quiet Hyuga.

"Yeah! Female supremacy!" cried Sakura, oblivious to Hinata.

"Oh for Kami's sake!" sighed the dog trainer.

"ano…" the pale-eyed girl tried again.

"Don't get them started," warned Naruto

"Too late," lamented Kiba. He looked over to the two kunoichi who had now started chanting "Rise up sisters!"

"ano…" Hinata whispered a third time

"I know how to shut them up!" Kiba proclaimed triumphantly

"How?" a very eager Naruto asked.

"Just watch," a very cocky Kiba replied. "Hey girls, look! It's Orlando Bloom!"

The two block radius around the Shinobi immediately became dead silent. At the realization that they had been tricked, every single girl, woman, and grandmother turned their attention to Kiba (excluding Hinata who was still trying to gather courage to mutter something again). If looks could kill, the young dog keeper would have been shot, cut in half, burned at the stake, hung, strangled, thrown off a cliff, stabbed, poisoned, and generally murdered… twice. Naruto and Kiba felt dwarfed by the giant amount of killer intent rolling towards them.

"On the count of three, run as fast as you can." Kiba whispered to Naruto while trying to stay frozen in place.

"Wait, you were the one that brought up Orlando Bloom" Naruto replied standing perfectly still.

"Why you…" cursed Kiba.

I think I read in a survival guide somewhere that if you are ever surrounded by a pack of angry women, you are not supposed to make any sudden movements. Instead, the best way to survive with at least three of your limbs is to slowly back away from the group. Apparently Kiba was not familiar with the guide and ran away, screaming his head off.

"Curse you Naruto!!!" Within seconds only Naruto and Hinata were left standing on the streets.

"Well, it's been good knowing you" Naruto said with a chuckle.

"ano… Naruto-kun?" a small voice said next to him

"Yeah?" Naruto asked. The said Hyuga blushed at being noticed even though she was the only one left with her crush.

"Will you… I was… d-do you m-mind having l-lunch b-before leav-ving?" Hinata's head was spinning, her nervousness almost claiming her consciousness.

"With you?" was Naruto's only reply. Poking her fingers together, Hinata nodded her to head, too anxious to say anything. The blush on her face deepened several shades.

"Sure Hinata." Naruto smiled when Hinata's face brightened. "How 'bout Ichiraku's 30 minutes before we have to leave?" Again, he was met by Hinata's fervent nods.

"_You know"_ Naruto thought to himself, _"She's kind of cute when she does that"_. Naruto smirked at his own comment.

"Alright, it's a date. See ya Hinata". With that Naruto left Hinata alone. Only one thought crossed her mind, one that nearly made her squeak with excitement and blush even harder. _"It's a date… it's a date…"_

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Sakura felt much better. Apparently pounding people to the ground is very therapeutic. Unfortunately, she and Ino had to leave the beating early in order to pack for their mission. She did a mental check of what had in her bag. _"Tent? Check. Food and Water? Check. Medical supplies? Check. Weapons? Check. Makeup? Check."_ She poured herself a cup of water and sat down at the kitchen table. Ever since she had become a medical ninja Sakura had been swamped with working at the hospital as well as missions. It was good to have a brief moment to herself even if it was only for a few seconds.

A knock on the door awakened Sakura from her brief tranquil moment. _"Strange…"_ She thought to herself, _"Nobody's at the door…"_ She sat back down and took a sip of her water. _"Weird tasting water… must be the ice"._

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Hinata waited patiently on the stool in front of the ramen bar. After politely declining Ayame-chan's offer to serve her multiple times, she began to get the feeling that coming to the ramen bar half an hour before the set time wasn't the smartest thing to do. "_Oh well,"_ Hinata sighed inwardly to herself, _"at least I won't be late"_. She was excited about the mission, as it was the first mission where Hinata had been paired with Naruto in a long time. However, logic caught up with her daydream. In this condition she would not be able to complete the mission. She smiled and blushed when she saw Naruto walking towards her. _"I'll let myself daydream a little longer"_ Hinata thought to herself, succumbing to temptation.

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Seeing Hinata waiting for him at the ramen stand brought a smile to Naruto's face. Her state of blush and the smile on her face made his heart flutter for a moment. He didn't know when it had started, but his interest in Sakura had diminished. Perhaps it was her temper, but it had dawned on Naruto that he saw Sakura just as a close friend. A close friend who could punch your face in if you didn't say the right thing…

Naruto pulled out a chair and sat next to Hinata. He then proceeded to order 6 bowls of beef ramen. He was in a beef sort of mood today. Hinata followed suit, ordering a single bowl of miso ramen.

"So Hinata, are you ready to kick some butt?!" Naruto started. All he got in response was a flushed face, fingers poking together, and a shy nod. The following fifteen minutes followed the previously set mold where Naruto, between slurps of ramen, retold stories of his travel with the toad-sannin. He used large movements to illustrate captivating the one person audience, who would laugh and gasp at just the right moments bringing a smile to the storyteller.

After a particularly exciting tale about saving a princess from an evil ruler the two were interrupted by Sakura, Ino, and Kiba -- The latter limping his way around with the help of a stick.

"Guys, look at what I found" joked Ino.

"Maybe we should leave them alone," Sakura continued to jest, "It was probably getting pretty steamy"

"You two are a rather odd couple," Kiba, quoting Naruto from before, finished.

Hinata couldn't believe her friends would joke like that. Her face changed from light pink to dark crimson.

"Nah," replied Naruto flashing one of his famous grins, "Hinata and I are prefect for each other". At this Naruto pulled Hinata into an embrace playing along with the three other shinobi. Hinata let out a small "eep!" She couldn't take it any more. Her head was spinning, and her heart was beating so loud she wouldn't have been surprised if the whole world could hear it. Naturally she did what she did best and fainted in Naruto's arms.

"Neh? Hinata? Hinata!?" Naruto began to panic but became confused when he looked up he noticed the two girls giving each other a 'We know something he does not' look and a very pissed Kiba.

"Guys! This is no time to stand around, Hinata's sick. I need to get her to the hospital". He was stopped by Ino.

"I don't think you should worry about her too much."

"Why not?" the distressed youth asked.

"I would definitely consider her fainting a good thing..."

"Wait, I want her to faint?"

"Well, not really. I sure don't," an annoyed Kiba decided to add.  
"So I don't want her to faint, but the repercussions are good?" the blond boy asked.

"You got'er Kotter!" Ino said cheerfully.

"Huh? Who's Kotter?" was Naruto's intelligent response.

"Don't ask me," was the girl's response "I heard an old man use it once."

"Then why did YOU use it?" Kiba asked.

"Naruto used a big word so I had to say something intelligent" Ino said defensively.

"Intelligent… Right…"

"Anyway, that's beside the point!" a flustered Ino said, "The point is that Hinata fainting is a good thing, right Sakura?" The rest of the group turned towards the pink-haired girl. The said girl was holding onto the counter steadying herself.

"Sakura?" Asked Naruto tentatively, "Are you ok? You don't look so good."

"Ohh…" Sakura groaned, "I don't feel so go-". She never finished her sentence as she fell to the ground, unconscious. Naruto turned to Ino.

"Ino? Is Sakura fainting a good thing too?"

Hokage Tower:

Shizune rushed into the room. "Hokage-sama, their operation, it's already begun!" The Hokage pondered for a moment before letting wisdom spout from her mouth. "F#$&!"

To be continued…

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AN- So I didn't wait until 2 week... Nobody hates me for lying do they? Good. Yeah, I'm subconsciously trying to stay away from action. Why you might ask? because I STINK AT IT!! However, I think it's become inevitable. Therefore along with your plot ideas (send a PM for this), and your writing comments, if you have any tips on writing action it would be appriciated. Once again my lovely beta readers Kovva and Krissy-Chan recieve props. Don't expect an early release date for the next chapter :P. Yep, that's it.


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks **King Kaza** and **Hinata'sbf** for the the reviews. Also **Kalluwen** for the wonderful input and **starfairy14s** as always. This chapter is dedicated to my friend Lydia who is currently fighting cancer.

note: I do not own Naruto. In fact, if he and I were to fight, he would probably own me

_flashbacks_

_"thinking"_

"talking"

Chapter 4 - Cruel Destiny

by Zynthos

Naruto paced back and forth in front of hospital room 116, in which Hinata and Sakura slept. He couldn't believe that within minutes two of his closes friends had gotten sick. Most people don't expect their friends to drop unconscious, let alone two of them. He thought back to the incident.

_Flashback:_

"_Ino? Is Sakura fainting a good thing too?"_

"_No… Naruto, something's wrong!"_

"_Kiba! Go get help!"_

"_Baka, I can't go get help Naruto. I'm practically crippled!"_

"_Oh yeah. Wait here I'll go get help."_

_End Flashback:_

After that, He had run to Tsunade as fast as he could. Tsunade had immediately sent out a medic team to bring back both Hinata and Sakura to where they now resided in hospital room 116.

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Hinata awoke from a wonderful dream. The only complaint she had was that she did not receive the kiss Naruto was about to her; she woke up just before his lips could grazed her skin. A sigh escaped her lips.

"I see that you are awake Miss Hyuga." Hinata opened her eyes. She found herself lying on a hospital quality bed, which was exactly where she was. The pale white walls of the room were unforgiving, and the only source of color was the dark blue of the nurse's eyes and the pink of Sakura's hair. Bright light came in through the window, blinding Hinata. The overall atmosphere of the room was definitely not geared towards helping the patient get better. _"No wonder Naruto hates being in the hospital"_. She giggled to herself.

"ano… hazure (miss), how long have I been here, in the hospital that is?"

"Well, let's see…you came here at about 12:30, and it's about 4:30 right now so it's been like… well, you spent the night anyhow."

"Nani!? What happened to the mission, ano…"

"The name's Tsukiko"

"Ok, Tsukiko-san, but what about the mission?" The nurse gave Hinata a quizzical look.

"I don't know about any mission, but there was a guy who wouldn't the room after you got here. We had to force him home."

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.

"I didn't get his name" Tsukiko said. She thought for a moment before a wily grin appeared on her face, "Though, he was really cute, now that I think about it." Hinata blushed at the comment, and Tsukiko flashed a knowing smile.

"Ah, I see" the nurse said, a glint in her eye. She waved her pinky which made Hinata blush even darker. Tsukiko's smile widened even further. "I have to get a few things so I'll leave you alone with your thoughts." With that the nurse stepped out the door. Many thoughts flashed through Hinata's mind. _"Was Naruto really the one outside the door? He seems loyal enough to do that… He was probably here to see Sakura-san. After all why would he come to see me?"_

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Naruto felt like a fool. It was clear everyone knew something he did not, and it frustrated him that he could be so oblivious to things around him. On top of that, his friends were ill. _"Ok. Let's go over this once again,"_ he thought to himself. _"Everyone was calm when Hinata fainted, but when Sakura-chan fainted Kiba looked worried and Ino nearly peed in her pants."_ Naruto allowed himself a chuckle at the mental image. _"So what are the differences between Hinata and Sakura-chan? Well…"_ Naruto began to number the differences, _"Sakura-chan always punches me for doing something wrong and Hinata never does that. Hinata's really shy, and kind of weird sometimes, while Sakura-chan always speaks up. Oh yeah, Hinata always looks sick, like she's blushing or something… wait, she doesn't seem flushed when she's talking to Kiba, or Shino, or anyone else for that matter. Could she be allergic to me?"_ Naruto thought about it. _"No, that doesn't make sense. Come on Naruto, think… Ok, the only time someone is flushed like that is either when she's… sick, can't be that. Embarrassed, no, I don't think I've embarrassed her in any way. Besides she can't be embarrassed every single time she sees me. The only thing left is that… she…SHE CAN'T LIKE ME!! I mean, come on… wait, why can't she? You know, she's kind of cute when she blushes like that… Naruto! What are you thinking!? You can't like her because… wait, why can't I like her?"_

Naruto's thoughts were interrupted by the nurse who had walked out of the room.

"Neh, hazure, are they ok?" Naruto asked, worry very evident in his voice.

The nurse's face softened, "I think they will both be ok. One is already awake. I have a feeling she would really like it if you went in." A sly grin was plastered on Tsukiko's face.

"Really? Thanks". The once again oblivious Naruto gave the nurse a warm smile. He was happy that she had not treated him like a monster like some of the other doctors and nurses in the hospital. Perhaps she was just young enough to be ignorant. Whatever the case was, Naruto was glad for the slight break in his depressed state and stepped into room 116. As Naruto closed the door behind him he heard a soft gasp. He turned around to find a very red girl, half hiding behind her blanket, staring back at him. The awkward silence was finally broken by the Hyuga,

"ano… hi N-Naruto-kun"

"Hey there Hinata. How are you feeling?"

"Ok-k I g-guess… ano, were y-you the o-one th-they had-d to f-force out l-last night?" Naruto gave a low chuckle.

"Yep, I wanted to stay with you and Sakura-chan but I guess visiting hours were over."

"D-do you r-remember how I g-got here?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah… we were at the ramen bar eating lunch, remember?" Hinata thought for a moment.

"oh yeah, I r-remember… Sakura-san, Ino-s-san, and K-kiba-kun c-came and then, and then… you… hugged…" Hinata stopped out of embarrassment.

"Oh yeah" Naruto said in remembrance, "That's when you fainted. Man, I was really worried about you Hinata." The mentioned girl turned an unhealthy crimson color.

"Hinata? Are you ok?" Naruto walked towards Hinata, placing a hand on her forehead. "You look like you're about to faint again." Naruto leaned in closer to the already flushed Hyuga in order to examine her more closely. Inadvertently their eyes met.

Caught in the moment neither Hinata nor Naruto could look away from each other. Some say the that eyes are a window to the soul. If that is true, their souls at that moment were completely in sync. Though one set was a clear, bright blue, while the other an unfathomable pale, both sets of eyes were deep, and yearned to be accepted; by the other. Naruto used the hand he had placed on Hinata's forehead to brush away a few lose strands of hair from her face. Her face had captured him. Both instinctively leaned in towards each other. Hinata closed her eyes in anticipation of something she had long hoped for. Naruto held his breath, letting his emotion guide his actions. It was as if time had stopped. Unfortunately, it had not, as the door opened revealing Tsukiko behind it.

"Oh dear," the nurse exclaimed, the papers in her hand nearly dropping to the floor. "Am I interrupting something?" In shock Naruto and Hinata immediately tried to act as inconspicuous as possible. Their attempt didn't work. The teens' flushed faces told the whole story. "Aw man," Tsukiko joked to herself, "Why does she get the cute guy".

In all fairness, the teens should be commended for their valiant efforts. Hinata had not fainted, and Naruto was doing a semi-convincing job of looking out the window.

"I'll just give you two some alone time," Tsukiko said as she quietly walked back out the door before closing it. "ano, Hinata-chan?" Naruto said trying to escape the awkward situation, "I'll see you tomorrow ok? Say hi to Sakura-chan if she wakes up ok?" With that, the blond hurried to the door stopping only to wave a goodbye. _"Hinata-chan… it has a nice ring to it,"_ both thought simultaneously.

-------------------------------------------------

Naruto had to clear his mind. His only solution happened to be his answer to nearly every ailment, Ramen. As he trudged down the well-known path to his second home, Naruto once again allowed his thoughts to wander. _"So, is this what love feels like? It's so much different then what I felt towards Sakura-chan. I guess she does have feelings for me, and I for her…"_ Naruto stopped his trek to the ramen bar _"but we could never be together. Her father would never allow it, and who knows how that stupid fox would take advantage of our relationship."_ Naruto stepped towards Ichuraku's ramen. To his surprise it was closed. He walked closer to the building and knocked on the door. He got no answer; however, he heard a noise inside. Naruto leaned even closer to the door. Someone was crying inside. Naruto tried the door and discovered that it was unlocked. Inside he found Ayame sitting on one of the stools, tears pouring down her cheeks. Her eyes were red and. Naruto immediately ran over to his adopted sister.

"Neh, Ayame-chan. Tell me what's wrong? I can't bear to see you like this." Even with his constant pleading, his only success was in calming Ayame down. He watched her with pity in his eyes. "Here, Ayame-chan, let's get your father to see if we can figure this out, ok?" At the mention of her father the brown haired girl started another round of tears.

"Papa wa- was sniff was kidnapped!" the girl managed to choked out.

"Nani!? Have you told Obaa-chan about this?" The meek girl nodded her head. "Look, Ayame-chan you hold on. I'm going to go talk to Obaa-chan about this. You stay put. Lock all the doors, help will come soon." Again all Ayame could do was nod. Naruto left the building and quickly ran towards Hokage's tower. _"First Sasuke left, then Hinata-chan and Sakura-chan got hurt, and now the old man. Why is this happening? Why can't I protect my precious people?_

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Hinata made her way to the Hokage tower. After she was released from the hospital, Tsukiko informed her that she was expected by Tsunade-sama as soon as she was well. The Hyuga had personally hoped that Sakura would wake up before she left, but that did not happen. She had also secretly wished that Naruto would come and see her again; however, this hope did not come true either. Thus Hinata traversed down the street alone; the other people on the street ignorant of how troubled the sixteen year old was. She thought back to earlier in the day when Naruto had visited her at the hospital. "_Who knows what would have happened if Tsukiko-san had not shown up when she did. Maybe, just maybe Naruto-kun does like me."_ For now Hinata could only imagine, but she promised herself that the next time she saw Naruto she would tell him how she felt. With new resolve Hinata continued on her way.

-------------------------------------------------

Naruto sat on a bench at the very back of the Hokage's office. His face was completely void of any emotion, something that almost never happened for Naruto. The Hokage looked up from her paperwork and sighed. She wanted to help her otouto in any way she could, but she was only trained to heal someone with physical injuries, not injuries that cut even deeper.

Tsunade had not been very happy about Naruto's intrusion and had nearly punched the unsuspecting blond. She stopped short when she noticed his down-trodden look. Naruto usually didn't share his problems with Tsunade, and so she immediately assumed the comforting mother role, something Naruto never had. She let him embrace her; let him cry on her shoulder. "Obaa-chan," he had said "All my precious people are getting hurt. I'm so afraid. Please… please help me…" He said no more as grief overtook him. The sennin wanted to cry along with her adopted brother, but could not. She had a job to do. She was Hokage after all, and had to be strong for the sake of the whole village. All she could do was hold him in her arms.

"_Why? Why must he suffer more? Oh great Kami! If you are so great then why can't you see that this little one is in pain! WHY!?"_ a tear trickled down her cheek. _"No!"_ she thought to herself wiping it away. _"I will not cry. For the sake of my otouto I will not cry. He will face more pain… I will not tell him that Iruka is in the hospital as well, not now…"._

After she had sent someone to take care of Ayame at Ichiraku's ramen bar, and assigned a team to find Teuchi she sat down and pulled out some of her long overdue paperwork. She had a million things on her mind and so naturally she got nothing done. Naruto had seated himself on a bench. The only sign that he was alive was an occasional sniff from his general direction. Tsunade didn't know what to say, a feeling she hated, especially when someone close to her was hurting. A knock came from the door. "Come in" The Hokage called in a solemn voice. In stepped Hinata Hyuga.

-------------------------------------------------

The first thing Hinata saw was the Hokage's somber face. She was afraid for a split second but the emotion immediately changed with the second thing she saw, Naruto's depressed figure. Hinata didn't know what to do. She hadn't known what to expect before coming into the room, but it sure wasn't this. She took a step towards Naruto but stopped. With all of her heart, Hinata wanted to run up to her love and embrace him. She wanted to be the one to cheer her Naruto up, but the Hyuga was much too timid to take such a bold action. The tension was broken up by Tsunade's voice.

"I'm glad to see you are better Hinata." Sensing he was listening to something he was not a part of Naruto excused himself from the room. He stopped when the Hokage's voice once again sounded. "Naruto, I want you to stay. You should be aware of this as well." The mentioned blond sat back down on the bench, and was joined by Hinata after Tsunade motioned for her to sit down.

"First" started the Hokage, "I want to let you both know that the previous mission assigned to you was taken by Team Gai. Secondly, I want you to be constantly aware of your surroundings. Someone may try to attack you, and I don't want to be unprepared."

"ano, Hokage-sama, p-please forg-give me f-for ask-king but why a-are y-ou just-t telling us?" Hinata asked.

"I don't want to scare you, but we have reason to believe that both of you are more likely to be attacked then everyone else."

"I see." Naruto spoke for the first time in a long while. "Is this why all my precious people are getting hurt?" The Hokage froze before giving a hesitant nod. "I see…"

"Is th-that all Hokage-same?" Hinata asked.

"Yes. You are dismissed." With that Hinata and Naruto walked out the door.

-------------------------------------------------

Naruto's mind was still a mess when he and Hinata left Tsunade's office, in fact, it was even more confused than before. He glanced to his left where Hinata was walking. Two thoughts became clear to Naruto. One was that he liked, perhaps even loved, the indigo haired, lavender-eyed girl walking beside him. The second was that he could never be with her. _"I will not hurt Hinata-chan"_ He told himself over and over again, trying to convince himself that the two of them would forever be apart. For the first time in his life, Usumaki Naruto wanted to give up. There was only one way he could think of to stop this relationship. The direct approach. When they reached an empty training field, Naruto stopped and turned towards Hinata.

"Hinata-chan?" Naruto began.

"Y-yes N-Naruto-kun?"

"Well… I need to tell you something…"

"Yes?" Hinata couldn't believe her ears. Was Naruto going to say what she thought he was going to? Probably not, but one could always wish.

"Hinata," Naruto stopped to collect his thoughts _"stupid"_ He scolded himself, _"the one time I actually need to talk, I'm speechless."_

"You're really shy and weird…" Hinata's face dropped. Naruto thought she was weird. "But," Naruto continued, "You're are such a kind and caring person. Please don't take this the wrong way…" Hinata didn't know what to think. "Because I really like you…" Hinata stopped in her tracks. She couldn't believe it. _"Naruto-kun likes me!!!"_ She jumped on top of Naruto and pulled him into a tight embrace. Her excitement was short lived, however, when she felt wetness soaking in to her shirt. She looked up to find Naruto with tears streaming down his face. "But Hinata-chan… I'm sorry… but… but I can't be with you." Time stopped for the young Hyuga. The only sound she could hear was the sound of her heart breaking into pieces. "Why?" she whispered. Naruto looked her in the eye "October 10, my birthday, is a national holiday. It was the day Kyuubi was killed by the Forth." Hinata did not like where this was going. "Please Naruto-kun, stop," She whispered. Ignoring her pleas Naruto continued.

"That day the Nine-Tailed Fox was not killed…"

"Naruto-kun stop…"

"He was too strong to be killed…" continued Naruto

"Please don't," Hinata pleaded

"Instead he was sealed inside a child..."

"Naruto-kun stop! Please just stop!" Hinata shouted. Naruto looked at the beautiful girl in front of him, pity in his eyes.

"Hina-chan, I was that child." Both allowed what had just been said to sink in.

"no… NO!" Hinata tried to run away but stopped when she heard Naruto's voice. Time froze. Nothing moved for what seemed like an eternity.

"Hina-chan?" Naruto finally prodded. Without warning chakra shot out of Hinata. Naruto held his hand up to his face in order to look at the Hyuga who was now enveloped in a white colored aura. Hinata turned around to face the blond. Tears were running down her face.

"THE MAN I LOVE IS NOT A DEMON!!!"

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"Ah, so the agkelos has revealed itself…"

"Wonderful. Everything is going as planned."

To be continued…

------------------------------------------------- 

AN- There you go. Chapter 4. I hope it was enough fluff for those who like fluff, enough drama for those who like drama, and enough tears for those who like water. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. I'm sure some things (like what the agkelos is) are pretty confusing at this point. I promise I will make sure to make things even more complicated. I'm trying to be as original as possible so bare with me. If you think this is a good start to a fanfiction writing career please tell people about this story. I don't want to sound selfish but I could use all the help I can get. More comments tend to mean more suggestions and the like. If there is anything I can inprove on romance wise, drama wise, or story flow wise, please let me know. For those who want action, be patience. The time will come (I think :P). Until then, sit tight. My beta readers are the always lovely **Kovva** and **Krissy-chan** as well as help from **Gesakusha**. Oh and for those whe were wondering who Kotter was, apparently he was from a TV series called Welcome Back, Kotter. Other then that I do not know (I really did hear it from an old man). Updates may become more infrequent because I have to begin working on my research paper but yeah. That's it.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey I'm back (I know, amazing isn't it) Anyhow, I hope you enjoy this next installment as much as I enjoyed reading your comments. Thankyou for the people who reviewed (too many names :P). Well, on with it...

Note: I almost named my pet hermit crab Naruto, but other then that I do not own Naruto.

_flashbacks_

_"thinking"_

"talking"

Chapter 5 - love's reevaluation

by Zynthos

A young woman of 16 years old sat under the shade of an oak tree. The tears that dripped down her face fell on the scroll in her lap, smearing the words on the page. Today had been the most emotional day of her life. To be caught up in love and then heartbroken within a minute is not good for the soul. It certainly effected Hinata's emotions. She opened her eyes to see hundreds of images created by the prisms of her tears. The opened scroll, now ruined, was covered in tearstains. _"Oh well,"_ She thought to herself. _"Besides, I can't concentrate on reading anyways"_.

Her thoughts traveled back to the events after Naruto revealed his secrets.

Flashback:

"_Hina-chan?" Naruto finally prodded. Without warning chakra shot out of Hinata. Naruto held his hand up to his face in order to look at the Hyuga who was now enveloped in a white colored aura. Hinata turned around to face the blond. Tears were running down her face._

"_THE MAN I LOVE IS NOT A DEMON!!!" With that, a blinding flash of light shot away from Hinata causing Naruto to quickly close his eyes. For some reason, the result of the flash did not only affect his eyes, Naruto fell to the ground grabbing his stomach. He vomited before the blackness surrounded him. When Hinata realized what had happened to the blond haired boy she froze. Part of her wanted to run up to him and help, but the other part of her wanted to get away from him as soon as possible. Faced with this impossible choice Hinata tried to run away from the decision, effectively choosing the later option._

_End Flashback:_

Now that she thought back to it, Hinata couldn't believe that ran away. She couldn't believe that she could abandon her love like that, if he still was her love. She also didn't know what the chakra could have been. The thing that shot out her body was completely unexpected. It had never happened before. It was all so confusing. Hinata repositioned her back on the oak tree and attempted to wade through the muck in her head.

-----------------------------------------------

The other two members of team 8 sat at a small café talking about battle positions and other such nonsense. They ate lunch together on a weekly basis. It began as a "get to know your teammate better" scheme, but became a weekly get-together where they could share thoughts with one another. Now Shino was one of the most observant ninja in all of Konoha so it didn't surprise him when Kiba brought Hinata into the conversation. Well, He wasn't surprised because of his observant nature and the fact that Kiba brought her up in their conversations for at least the last few months.

"Shino, I don't like it how Naruto and Hinata are getting all close like. It might jeopardize my chances. I have to make a move soon." Shino sighed.

"Kiba, I have analyzed the situation I believe that-"

"That we aren't compatible, that things wouldn't work out. I know what you want to tell me" Kiba tried to finish for Shino.

"No." Shino replied. "She doesn't like you". Nothing came out of Kiba's mouth even though it was opening and closing as if he wanted to say something. Did Shino have to be so blunt? Kiba voiced his opinion.

"Shino, that's a bit harsh isn't it? You mean to say, 'she doesn't like you, but she could grow to like you don't you,' didn't you?"

"No I don't. She doesn't like you. Why would I use a long sentence when a short one will suffice?"

"Still Shino, you could be wrong…"

"Kiba, I am a bug user, not a human specialist, but what my bugs have taught me is to look at things in a more direct fashion. All bugs know are how to eat and reproduce. Humans, however, have emotions. You cannot treat them as a prize to be won. I believe that the relationship will become worse if you push this any farther."

"Nah," was Kiba's reply. "You know that I'm not trying to win her like a prize. All I have to do is help her realize her affection for me. Thanks for your help, Shino. I think I'm going to talk to her now." With that, Kiba paid for the food and walked out the front door. An annoyed sigh escaped out of the usually emotionless Shino.

"Stubborn dog…"

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Back and forth, back and forth, Naruto sat on his old depleted mattress, slowly rocking back and forth, taking comfort in the squeaking sound it produced. His hand grasped a crumpled piece of paper, one that had once held a note. That note was no more as it had long since been washed away by the tears of the unbelieving reader.

_Flashback:_

_Naruto found himself in the middle of a training field. The smell of vomit filled his nostrils which nearly made him add to the pile. He pushed himself up from the ground, away from the pool of vomit, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and started the weary trek home. As he neared his house, he could make out of the silhouette of a person in front of his door. Shizune was just about to leave a written message on the front porch, but when she saw Naruto and handed it to him, flashing him a sad smile. Naruto opened the door and sat on his bed before reading the letter. 'Dear Naruto' it started, 'I am sorry to inform you that Iruka is in the hospital. Currently, he is in critical condition. The doctors request that no visitors are allowed. I'm sorry. – Tsunade'. Naruto couldn't swallow what he just read. The day that 'couldn't get worse' just did._

_End Flashback_

He couldn't take it anymore. He was alone once again! Even though Naruto never gave up, ending his life didn't sound like such a bad idea; in fact, in fact, it sounded pretty good. _"All the pressures in life would be gone in a flash"_ He said to himself. Nearly convinced to go the whole nine yards, a second thought came into his mind What if Sakura, his teammate and Iruka, his father figure got better? What if they find Teuchi, the kind man from the ramen bar? What if Hinata… the woman he loved, still loves him? Hope.

His mind lingered on Hinata. The time he first felt the spark rushed back into his mind. Ironically, it was all because of his flirting with Sakura a couple years ago…

_Flashback:_

"_Sakura-chan! Let's have lunch together!" Naruto stood in front of the pink haired Kunoichi, practically on his knees begging Sakura._

"_Naruto, you are so annoying!"_

"_Sakura-chan!"_

"_No, baka. I'd much rather wait for Sasuke than date you."_

"_Aww! Come on!"_

"_NO!" Naruto crashed into to wall by the side of the street, thanks to Sakura's fist. Unnoticed by the two, a pale-eyed girl watched the transaction from the safety of the street corner. Oh how she wanted to be in Sakura's shoes. But, sadly, it was not to be. Hinata began to walk back to her home when a voice called out to her._

"_Hinata, what's up, you look sad" The mentioned girl looked up to find a blonde teen with a strange affinity for orange staring back._

"_N-No Naruto-kun. I-It's n-nothing." Hinata replied. Her face blushed up like a cherry tomato._

"_Come on Hinata, I want to help"_

"_ano… w-well… I s-sort of-f… l-like this-s… g-guy…"_

"_Oh? This guy is really lucky" _

_Hinata couldn't believe what Naruto had just said. She had already risked fainting by telling him her deepest secret, and now Naruto had said that the guy she liked was lucky… because of her!_

"_You-u see… He sort-t of… ano… l-likes… l-likes s-someone els-se"_

"_oh."_

"_yeah…"_

"_Well, you should tell him anyways, I mean, if it was me, I would want to know."_

"_r-really?"_

"_yeah"_

"_B-but what-t ab-bout him-m?" Naruto laughed._

"_Hinata, you are too caring…" Hinata's face brightened like a lighthouse on a stormy day._

"_Arigatou gozaimasu Naruto-kun!" Spirits lifted, Hinata hurried away lest she make a fool of herself in front of her crush._

"_You know," Naruto thought to himself, "I wouldn't mind liking her. She's such a caring person. I should really get to know her better."_

_End Flashback_

Naruto allowed a small smile after the warm memory. Ever since that day, little by little, they grew closer to each other. It wasn't love at first sight, it was definitely love at much passed first sight, but Naruto didn't care.; it had happened hadn't it? Naruto didn't know the exact moment he began to really "like" Hinata, but then again, at this point it didn't really matter. _"No,"_ He decided, _"I won't throw my life away. There's too much to live for, too much to work towards"._

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Hinata stopped crying after her long spell. Ever since she ran away, questions kept running through her mind. _"Do I really still like Naruto? Did I really ever like him?"_ The answer to the second question was obvious. Of course she had liked him; her affection for him was unmistakable, at least before. The real question was the first one. Thus she sat under her tree for hours trying to find the answer.

"_Well…"_ She tried to reason with herself, _"I ran away from him on the field… does that mean I don't like him anymore? But now I feel guilty, does that mean I do? Arg! This is so confusing! It's all been so quick. I need more time to think this through. My head tells me that I should stay away from a demon, but yet my heart won't allow me to leave him. I've heard the expression 'listen to your heart', but my heart has been wrong on many occasions. Besides is Naruto really a demon? I mean, he cares for people and is such a good friend. Would a demon act that way?"_ She thought about it some more when another question popped into her head; one that summed up everything in her mind _"Is a demon worth giving up the man I love?_ The question lingered in her mind. _"Is it?"_

Her emotions flared up again when she noticed Kiba walking up the street. She was not in the mood for this.

"Hi Hinata! Um… how was your day?" Hinata gave a slight grunt trying to tell Kiba that she did not want to talk to anyone.

"Um… ok. Look, I just want to… um… well basically… What's happening between you and Naruto?" Hinata's head snapped up.

"Don't talk about Naruto-kun." Kiba ignored his better judgment and continued to pry,

"Why do you like him so much, Hinata?"

"Why do you like me so much?" she shot back. Kiba thought about how to answer the question before giving his response.

"Well, for one you're beautiful-"

"Liar." She cut him off. "If you really wanted beauty you would have fallen in love with Sakura, Ino, or Ten-Ten… Anyone but me…" Kiba was speechless so Hinata continued, "He told me he loved me, but told me to forget about him…" Kiba was shocked at the comment. "I'm sorry Naruto… I'm sorry… but I… just… can't!" _"Maybe this is too early to make a decision, but my heart tells me I do love you Naruto. Maybe my heart is wrong again, but I don't care. I won't let a stupid demon get in between Naruto and me."_ Kiba realized the gravity of the situation; the closeness of Naruto and Hinata. In a last ditch effort the dog user pulled out the "L" word.

"Hinata, I l-"

"Love you?" Hinata finished for him. "Well you know what? I hate you Kiba, I hate you. Now get out of my face." Kiba felt the sting like that of a hard slap. How could sweet, innocent Hinata have a bite worse then Akamaru? All Kiba could do was sulk away in shock, muttering "stupid ramen eater, stupid bug boy…"

Hinata sat in disgust, _"The nerve of that boy"_ She thought to herself. Hinata felt a hand on her shoulder. She thought Kiba left, apparently not.

"What do you want n-"

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Naruto looked out over the stone faced hokages down at the village below. The view always meant something to the young ninja, and always gave him a spot of refuge for recuperating. For some reason, however, the lookout did nothing for him today. Yes, he decided to keep his life. Nevertheless, his load remained heavy, perhaps even more so with the knowledge of his requirement to go through whatever Kami-sama threw at him. He felt crushed in the middle of something much greater him.

After one last look over the mountain, Naruto started the long journey home but was stopped by a very annoyed voice.

"If you're planning on jumping off the hokage monument go right ahead. Don't worry I'll be joining you shortly." Naruto turned around to face a smirking Kiba.

"What's biting you?" Naruto tried to comment in a nonchalant way.

"Oh shut up baka!"

"What?!"

"You're the reason stupid!"

"…"

"I thought you were my friend."

"Wait, what is that supposed to mean?" Kiba let out a small growl, then a sigh.

"Just let me warn you. She's not as kind and pleasant as you might think."

"What do you mean?"

"No time!" A running Ino huffed out. "We have big trouble" handing Naruto a note. "I found it attached to a kunai thrown into the shop during work. Naruto read it aloud.

"Give this note to Naruto. I have Hinata. She is not harmed… for now. If you want her back, meet me at the edge of the old abandoned district of the city. Do not tell anyone unless you want her dead. We have ways of finding out."

Naruto was speechless. Could this day get any worse?

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Hinata woke up on a cold hard surface. She tried to get up but found that she could not. Metal chains bound her wrist and ankles forcing her into a spread eagle position. Hinata's face flushed red when she realized the compromising situation she was in. luckily only her jacket was missing, leaving her in a dark blue tee-shirt and Capri pants of the same color. Her long hair spayed out over the stone platform she laid on. She heard footsteps and turned her head to see a woman with flowing dark green hair. Deep purple lip-gloss graced her lips, and heavy eye-shadow adorned her complexion. Her loose fitting kimono, revealing more then is should, looked like it was about to fall of her slender, tall figure. What made Hinata most afraid was the glint in her eyes, like the one you see in a cat's eyes when it plays with a doomed mouse.

"W-Where am-m I" Hinata asked, nervousness very evident in her voice.

"It's ok" replied the mystery woman in a deep sultry voice, "We just need something from you",

"W-We?"

"Now don't you worry your little head deary, just be patient. He may have something planned for you too." A wicked smirk appeared on the woman's face; one that caused Hinata's skin to crawl.

"Now be a sweetheart and let me inject this serum into you. There will be some tension, and a little 'kuchunk' but don't worry, I'll take good care of you." Hinata panicked as she felt the tip of a needle pierce her skin. Needless to say, she was scared stiff. If she had been a little younger, or if her muscles had not contracted, she surely would have lost bowel control and pee her pants. She, however, lost the privilege as darkness claimed her consciousness.

To be continued…

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AN- I am sorry for taking this long. As with the majority of fanfiction authors life catches up with them (life stinks!). Anyway, for those who want to know, the information that I got from Califoria was that the surgery performed on Lydia was a success and she should make a full recovery. :D I hope that you as the reader did not forget what happen in the previous chapters and thus lose the fluidity of the story. Thank you **Krissy-chan** for editing for me once again. hopefully I can get the next chapter out before Thursday when I leave for New Mexico. If not, I sorry for making you wait... again. That's it.


	6. Chapter 6

It's been a while since my last post. I've been busy with a lot of things of which I will tell you after this chapter. I suggest you look back at the previous chapters to remind yourself of what has happened earlier. Thanks and enjoy...

Note: I don't own Naruto, what else do you want me to say?

**Kyuubi talking**

_"thinking"_

"talking"

Chapter 6 - Love's Redeeming Light

by Zynthos

The wind rushed through Naruto's hair as he ran towards the abandoned districts of Konoha. On either side, Kiba and Ino followed closely behind. Akamaru stayed closely behind Kiba. The rule of thumb for ninja is that they are never supposed to allow their emotions to dictate their actions. Fortunately and unfortunately that was never a strong point for Naruto. This case was not an exception. Rage flowed through his body. He could feel Kyuubi become excited from all the hate. He would have to watch out for that.

Naruto turned around to see if the other two could follow along. His training with Ero-sennin really helped his speed. During the grueling journey, the others had begun to lag behind. At this point, with only about half a mile to go, Kiba and Ino were about 100 meters back. It was no problem as it would only take about 45 seconds to reach Naruto again. With that in mind, Naruto doubled the chakra in his feet and sped off towards his goal, his love.

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Hinata woke up in a large, bare room. All around her on the walls she could see her memories and dreams, like a video, playing in front of her. It was strange but Hinata did not feel anxious about finding herself inside the large room. Stranger still was that there was a man standing near one of the walls, observing her intently. He wore a white robe and his complexion shone like a bright lamp. Hinata crawled away from him as quickly as possible--not because she was afraid he would hurt her, no, she had never felt more secure in her life--but because just with a single look at his face, Hinata could feel all the sins and wrong-doings, all her guilts, and all her secrets rush to her mind consuming her. She felt so dark.

"Wh-who are y-you?! Wher-re am-m I?!" Hinata cried out

He spoke. His voice held more command then a thousand trumpets, and yet was more comforting than listening to the tide of the ocean wash in and out.

"Do not be afraid" was all he said. Instantly Hinata felt a peace like not other she had even known fill her heart.

"At this point, you do not need to know my name. All you need to know is that I am an agkelos. As for where you are at this point, your physical body is still on the stone platform. The place you perceive now, however, is different. Welcome to your mindscape."

"Nani?! I'm in my mind!?"

"This is the center of your physical, emotion, and spiritual being. You are peering into your own soul."

"Wait. I'm in my own mind?"

"…yes?"

"Whoa… that's weird…"

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Naruto landed softly onto the ground in the middle of the abandoned district of Konoha. His eyes darted back and forth trying to find a clue of what to do next. Kiba and Ino appeared behind him a minute later. It was then they saw a woman walk out from behind the rubble of the fallen buildings. She wore a skin tight black Chinese qipao. Flowing brown hair framed her face. The woman wore a no-nonsense look on her face.

"I was instructed to lead you to the designated area" the woman said. "Please follow me." Consciously knowing they could be walking into a trap, the three shinobi fell behind the guide. After a couple minutes, the group walked into a large, cleared-out area. In front of them was a second female standing in front of a large building; her dark violet hair shone in the sunlight.

"I'm sorry you two, but only Naruto is allowed to pass the door." The three looked at each other before Naruto gave the other two a curt nod.

"Truce?" Naruto asked Kiba

"Truce." Kiba responded. All three turned to the two kunoichi.

"I'm sorry" Naruto began, "but I insist that my friends be allowed into in."

"Don't you worry your little head. As long as they behave, your friends will be perfectly safe." The second lady said.

"Besides, you'll have your own worries" added the first with a smirk. Naruto was about to argue further but stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Kiba with Ino next to him.

"Naruto," Kiba said, "you go inside. Ino and I will kick the butts of these two ninja wannabes and meet you inside." Naruto flashed his trademark grin.

"Ok, I'm counting on you two."

"No sweat" Ino chimed in. With that, Naruto walked purposefully past the two kunoichi and into the dark building.

"Alright!" As Ino trusted her finger towards her two opponents, the other three shinobi eased into their fighting stances.

"I'll ask you one last time before I get angry. Let us into the building."

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Hinata sat in the corner of the room absorbing every word the agkelos said.

"Wait mister, can you explain that again? Sorry…" the man just nodded his head. It seemed as if he had infinite patience, which he did.

"As you know, must things on earth have an equal opposite; Light and dark, black and white, ying and yang, even matter has anti-matter. If this is true then there must be an equal opposite for the nine biju. I, one of the seven agkelos, was sent to earth to be the equal opposite force of the nine tailed beasts."

"But there are only seven of you and nine demons."

"How very observant of you. The reason for this is because agkelos by nature are stronger then demons."

"I see…" Hinata averted her eyes.

"What is wrong child? You seem troubled."

"Well… it's just that the man I love… he is a jinchuriki. That must seem so bizarre to you. A carrier of an agkelos in love with a carrier of a demon…" A good natured grin appeared on the man's face.

"Ah. You are referring to Naruto I presume?"

"Wha- !? How did you know!?" The grin grew into a smile.

"Do not be so ignorant to believe that I have but recently come to be with you. I have watched over you ever since your mother passed away."

"Okaa-san?"

"Yes, and let me tell you, your mother would have been ecstatic about your relationship with Naruto if she was still with us."

"Really?"

"Yes. I just don't know if I approve of this Naruto character." He said jokingly. Hinata, however, was too afraid that this man would not allow her to see Naruto to notice; after all, he was her protector, and the one who resided with her.

"Please sir, Naruto is a good person. Sure, he can be a bit annoying at times but I love him even more because of it. He's got a pure heart and good morals. Just please don't tell me I can't see him." Hinata nearly ended in tears.

"Hinata" the man responded, "I am here to protect you. It is up to you make the right choices. You can ask me for advice but in the end it is you who makes the final decision. Besides," the man added with a grin, "I'm not your father". Hinata smiled at that.

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Naruto stepped into the building. He had instructed himself to keep a level-head. So far he hadn't broken his own mandate. After walking in the front door, a long hall way led him deeper into the ruins of the old district. From there he descended a long flight of stairs. He had no idea where he was going or which door to open. He went wherever his feet led him. Naruto entered a final room. Who knows what the chances were that it would lead to where his opponent was? Let's just say Naruto was a lucky person. Ahead of him stood a man dressed in a simple sleeveless red shirt and black pants. A standard looking long sword with a wolf's head on the top of the hilt was strapped to his back. He held his hands behind his back and with fiery eyes he watched Naruto intently.

"Welcome," the red haired man began "You are Uzumaki Naruto I presume?" The said person was not in the mood to play games.

"Where is Hina-chan you bastard!?" Naruto wasn't even thinking about the regulation he had set for himself earlier.

"My name is Aira, and your 'Hina-chan' is in a safe place. She will stay that way if you agree to my preposition" Naruto suppressed the urge to rip out the man's throat and nodded his head motioning for him to continue.

"It's very simple. I want you to do two things. I want you to give me 48 hours before I return Hinata-san to you, and I want you to release Kyuubi, preferably in Hokage's tower. I will give you my word that Hinata will be safe if you follow these two very simple instructions."

Naruto spit on the ground in disgust. "Like Hell I will!"

"yeah I figured…" Aira interjected

"I'm not going to let Hina-chan spend even one second longer with you, you perverted monster!" Naruto continued without missing a beat. Aira gave Naruto a look of amusement.

"A pervert? Why do you call me that?"

"Why else would you want to spend more time with her you sick psycho?"

"Why? Because she carries something inside her I want"

"What do you mean?"

"Actually, scratch that. You know why? Because I want to get to know her, of course." Aira thought about it for a second, and then licked his lips suggestively to mock Naruto.

"After all, you have no idea" Naruto couldn't contain himself any longer. The rage built up inside of him exploded in an instant. He charged the man and attacked him with a barrage of punches and kicks. What annoyed him wasn't the fact that he found himself sliding on his back across the floor. The annoying thing was the fact that his right hand was still behind his back. Naruto got the eerie feeling that the man wasn't left handed.

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"Kuso… where did she go?!"Ino's eyes scanned her surroundings, trying to find a hint of her opponent. Too late.

"Doton Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu! (Inner Decapitation)" said the dark haired woman. Only Ino's quick reaction and a large piece of debris saved her from a dreadful fate.

"Kawarimi no Jutsu! (Body Replacement technique). Hiding behind a large stone, Ino took the much needed break from the action and took a quick, risky glance towards Kiba's battle who was currently getting his butt handed to him. Akamaru struggled to help his master but the woman he was fighting was no slouch. She was impressively quick and a strong enough hand to hand fighter so that little to no ninjutsu was used in her fighting style. She was strong enough to give Lee a run for his money. She attacked pressure points with pinpoint precision; as accurate as any Hyuga. Ino turned to her opponent once more. She could not risk any more time lest the enemy get the upper hand.

"Shinranshin no Jutsu (Mind Destruction Jutsu)" Ino quietly spoke. The other kunoichi stopped looking around and with a confused look started to attack herself. The battle against an opponent became a battle against herself as the dark-haired woman took out a kunai, moving it closer and closer to her own heart. As the kunai penetrated her chest, Ino stepped out of her hiding spot and declared triumphantly,

"Shinranshin no Jutsu complete!" She, however, spoke too soon. The side of her vision began to swirl around her. It was a familiar feeling; one a person felt when they were blacking out… or falling into genjutsu. Ino swore.

"This is not good..."

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"Sir?" Hinata asked the agkelos,

"Yes child?"

"Where are you from, and if you play such an important role against the kyuubi why do we not learn about you in school?"

"The reason is because only a handful of people know we exist. The Kyuubi are known because they attack villages and take lives. We do no such things, and have no desire to be famous. Therefore, the only people who know we exist are carriers and those they tell."

"I see"

"why do you ask?" Hinata hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Be-because… I was wondering if I would be shunned by the villagers if they knew that I was carrying something in me."

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Aira and Naruto had been fighting for only five minutes. In that time Aira had successfully knocked Naruto down three times, cut him twice, hit him who knows how many times and defeated enough kage bushins to make enough smoke for ten pirate movies. All Naruto had to show for his effort was a lot of frustration and a slight brush of Aira's hair… actually I think it was the wind.

"Kage bushin no jutsu" (lots of Narutos technique) Seven Naruto's jumped out from a cloud of smoke towards Aira. Four were immediately deffused by a sweep of a sword the two Narutos to the left and the one to the right doubled their efforts after they had dodged the blade. Their unsynchronized strikes did nothing but hit air. Before Naruto could pull back his fist for another strike he found himself flying through the air. Aira stood in front of him, engulfed in flame.

"What?!" Naruto cried out in astonishment. Aira took a step towards Naruto, the first step he had taken since the fight had begun.

"What's so surprising? The fire? My blood limit allows me to control fire at will. Oh, by the way, your friends being hurt, yeah that was me." Aira said. Naruto steadied himself before crawling back onto his feet. Naruto fought to stay upright but his eyes glared straight at his opponent.

"I'm just getting started." Standing up straight, Naruto took up his famous position.

"Kage bushin no Jutsu!" Aira gave out a short sigh as he held his sword before him. A cloud of white appeared around him as he cut through a dozen blond haired ninja.

"RASENGAN!" A blue sphere broke the smoke straight towards Aira's face. With the momentum he had built up Aira grabbed Naruto by the arm and hurled him across the room where he broke through the wall, landing in a large stone area covered with cobwebs and dust. Naruto couldn't move. No matter how much he willed his body, it would not respond. He began to struggle even more as his opponent strode closer and closer towards him. He tilted his head upwards to get a look at where Aira was, and to his shock and chagrin he saw the one object in the dark, damp room. A stone table was erect in the middle of the room, and on top of the table laid Hinata Hyuga. Wires and tubes were attached to her body and a strange parchment seal was on top of her stomach. It was glowing blue. Whatever was happening, it didn't look good. He then heard the red-headed man behind him speak.

"Please do not go near her or else I will have to kill you." New rage filled Naruto giving him the strength to lift himself off the ground. Rage began to build because he could not help the woman he loved; from the fact that she was currently being hurt because he could not protect her. Naruto cracked. A soft chuckle escaped his lips.

"You wi**ll **k**ill me, mortal?**" Naruto's slitted eyes glistened in the candle light. His hands, now with elongated fingernails clenched and unclenched, wanting to shed blood. He could feel the Kyubi banging on the bars of its prison trying to break free, roaring for the chance to once again ravage the countryside.

"**You want to kill me?**" Naruto growled again, "**Let me show you what real violence is**". Naruto's face contorted into an evil grin.

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Kiba looked back to see Ino in trouble. Without thinking twice he sent Akamaru to help Ino out. Kiba however, stayed behind and turned back to his brown-haired opponent. His opponent wasted no time and immediately shot towards Kiba who madly dodged out of the way falling to the ground. Not letting the opportunity go by, the woman charged the downed dog owner. Kiba caught her with his feet and kicked her back.

"I can't let you win" Kiba growled jumping back onto his feet. He felt horrible. His left arm wasn't responding, and he couldn't feel his right leg.

"Why?" replied the lady, "what do Naruto and Hinata mean to you?"

"Naruto's my friend, and my comrade. Hinata is…"

"What?" the woman interjected, "what is she?" she waved her pinky mockingly at Kiba. He lowered his head for a moment.

"No," he said re-raising his head, "no, she is my teammate, my friend, and she loves someone very much. I must protect that love." With that, Kiba charged forward. "GATSUGA!"

"How poetic" mocked the woman as she dodged away from a deadly slash, jumped slightly to the right to dodge it again, and, just to smite the dog user, jumped over the third attack.

"Is that all?" she mocked. Kiba couldn't believe it. He already felt dead tired, and here, his opponent had yet to break a sweat. The situation looked even bleaker when she disappeared only to reappear behind him. He felt the kunai blade cutting a large gash on his back. Blood gushed from the wound as Kiba futilely struggled to get away, trying save himself from certain death. The woman would have none of it. She placed the kunai on Kiba's neck.

"Any final words?" She asked in a haughty voice.

"Yes" A voice behind them both said. Kiba did not have the strength to turn his head but he recognized the voice. "Don't hurt my subordinates." With that Tsunade punched the ground, creating a large fissure trapping the unprepared woman. She was quickly subdued by ANBU. 30 feet away Kurenai battled the fellow genjutsu user, however, with more experience, Kurenai emerged victorious. Within minutes of the Hokage coming, both infiltrators had been apprehended. Medical ninja quickly took care of Kiba and Ino.

"H-how did you find us?" Kiba managed to sputter out.

"This is my village" The Hokage responded slyly. "It would be a disgrace for the Hokage not to know what happens in her own village. You'll be ok now, just get some rest." Kiba consented and drifted into unconsciousness.

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"Hinata, it is time that we part."

"What?! Why?! Are they going to steal you like Akatsuki tried to take all the tailed beasts?"

"No, I'm..."

"I don't want you to leave!"

"Hinata, I'm not…"

"Please don't go!"

"I'm not…"

"Sorry to be such a bother but this place is scary being here by myself"

"HINATA!" the agkelos called.

The said person immediately shut her mouth. "Listen to me carefully. Do not be afraid. I am only leaving you because it is time for you to wake up. Soon, you will be with someone you want to be with even more then me."

"Naruto?" Hinata asked with hope in her voice.

"Yes."

"Ano… sir, I have one final question before you go."

"Go ahead."

"Why is it that you are not being taken out of my body like when Shukaku was taken out of Gaara?"

"That is because," the agkelos said with a smile, "the extracting technique requires that which is being extracted to want to be extracted. Shukaku wanted to leave the confines of his cage, but remember this Hinata. I will never leave you." Hinata timidly walked up to the agkelos and gave him a warm embrace.

"Thank you."

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Red Chakra surrounded Naruto like fire. The Kyuubi had emerged, and it was seeking blood. Both opponents sized each other up but in the end it didn't matter. Naruto would have charged the leviathan; and won. Unable to defend himself from the accelerated attacks Aira could do nothing but make his best impression of a rag doll.

"Naruto..." Aira gasped between labored breaths, "I see… see why he warned me about you."

"**I will make sure that the last thing you see is my fist sending you to Hell.**"

"No… I will not die here"

"**Ha! Foolish mortal! Run away will you? Have you even the strength to stand? Humor me why don't you! I will not be refused the shedding of blood!**"

"There is… is a reason for why he… he chose me. Let me show you" with that Aira began to glow. Suddenly he burst into flame and was gone. Naruto gave an inner sigh of relief. The Kyuubi, however, howled in frustration. It had not seen blood and battled for dominance of Naruto's body. In order to fill his quota, the Kyuubi-infused Naruto turned towards the only other living thing in the room, Hinata. Realizing what the Kyuubi was about to do, Naruto fought the demon inside him fervently.

"I will not let you hurt Hina-chan"

"**Kit,**" the demon said, "**I know of your feelings towards this vixen**" a low chuckle rolled out of the Kyuubi's mouth. "**That's why obliterating her body will be that much sweeter.**

"NO!" Naruto cried out in frustration to the Kyuubi. No matter how much he struggled, he couldn't wrestle control from the demon. The Kyuubi stalked towards Hinata. Tears streaked down Naruto's face as he futilely battled against the Kyuubi. He redoubled his effort with mere inches between him and his love. Suddenly, a wave of nausea rolled over Naruto like a tsunami. The back of his mind registered his inner demon howling in pain. Again the pain hit him with bone-crushing intensity. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a bright light envelop the sleeping Hinata; the same as the street incident. Naruto's vision began to tunnel, and he lost consciousness.

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"Remember Hinata, I am always with you. Now go, Naruto needs you."

"Thank you…"

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Light entered Naruto's eyes blinding, him for a second. Blinking, Naruto cleared his blurred vision and slowly sat up. He could not have thanked Kami more for what he saw. A concerned looking Hinata sat beside him watching him intently. Naruto lifted his hand and gently placed it on Hinata's cheek, gazing into her pupil less eyes. Neither spoke a word. None needed to be spoken. Finally, Naruto couldn't stand it anymore. He pulled Hinata into a tight embrace, not intending to let go anytime soon. Hinata closed her eyes, relaxing into his arms. Their lips met, and the world around them fell away.

"Hina-chan?" Naruto softly said after they had separated, "Please don't leave me." Hinata rested her head on Naruto's shoulder. "How could I?" she responded. "Fate has made us one and I wouldn't have it any other way. Naru-kun, I love you."

"As do I," Naruto whispered softly, "as do I".

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Aira stumbled through the wilderness. His escape had left him extremely weak.

"Aira," a voice said from above him, "I see that you have returned unsuccessful." Aira looked up. A man stood on the branch of a tree.

"I'm sorry master. I had the agkelos in my possession; however, the jinchuriki disrupted our plans."

"That's quite all right Aira, I expected him to do as such."

"You did?"

"Yes, all is still going according to plan."

"I see, in that case will you help my family now? I've offered my services like you requested."

"Patience, I will, but in due time"

"But sir! We don't have time!" Sasuke glared down upon Aira.

"Aira" he boomed, "I will not tolerate disobedience. As for your family, we are already conducting tests on your wife and two children. Now come, we have more business to attend to..."

To be continued…

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AN- Again I am sorry about the long delay, For the last two months I've been busy with a trip to NM, the SAT, 3 AP tests, preparing a curriculum for an english camp in China this summer, 5 different singing performances, an 11 page research paper, and the rest of life. I hope you can understand. This chapter ends the first part of my story. The the first installment of the second and final half of this story should be out shortly (I've written it, it just needs to be edited). This is also my first stab at action. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.Thank-you to all my beta readers, **Krissy-chan**, **Kovva**, and **Gesakusha**. Twelve pages, sheesh... yep, that's it...


	7. Chapter 7

Time skip, three years after Aira incident.

Note: I don't own Naruto, but that's ok, because I love cheese.

_flashback_

_"thinking"_

"talking"

Chapter 7 - His Angel

by Zynthos

Hinata snuggled close to the warm body beside her. The cold air caused goose bumps to appear on her skin which encouraged her to huddle even closer. Maybe wearing that new, short-sleeved, lavender top was not such a good idea considering how cold the night had become.

The events that unfolded after the attack of Aira went by uneventfully. After a long stay at the hospital for both Naruto and Hinata, they were released back into active shinobi duty. Both of Aira's henchmen were sent to shinobi prison and neither of them caused enough trouble for them to be concerned about. Neither, however, could forget that Aira was still out there somewhere. Sakura and Iraku were both able to recover fully, and Teuchi was found a few days later trapped in a genjutsu of him endlessly making ramen. Relationship wise, Naruto and Hinata grew closer and closer. They began dating immediately after being released from the hospital. This was approved by all their friends, even Kiba. They were called the "epitome of the springtime of youth" by Lee, and Shikamaru even stopped watching his clouds to make fun of Naruto saying that he was finally smart enough to figure out that Hinata liked him. The Hyuga clan was a different story however. Many saw the future head of the clan dating a demon carrier as a sign of weakness. They tried to pressure Hiashi into casting Hinata into the branch family and putting the cage seal on her, or at least forbid the two from seeing each other. Finally after much debate Naruto was called to hear the final decision from Hiashi.

_Flashback:_

_The door opened and Naruto stepped in. The room was very elegant, with thin white rice paper walls adorned with priceless artifacts and pieces of art. On the back wall, the Hyuga flame shone proudly. The people Naruto found inside were just as proper. Behind a large desk filled with important documents sat the four pale-eyed Hyuga whom made up the main family. On the left sat a very stoic Hyuga Hanabi. To the right was a very worried Hinata. It was obvious it was taking all the self-control she possessed not to run and cry on Naruto's shoulder. Finally to her left, was the head of the clan, Hyuga Hiashi. Nervously, Naruto walked towards the group and sat down. He couldn't tell what was going through Hiashi's head, and judging from Hinata's face, he didn't want to know. Finally, Hiashi began to speak, breaking the awkward silence._

"_So Naruto-san, I finally get to meet you in person. You know you were very impressive during the chunnin exams, but I digress. I have called you here on the account that you want to 'see' my elder daughter." Naruto was afraid to speak._

"_Um… yes-s sir, Mr. Hiashi-sama sir…"_

"_I see," Hiashi responded, giving Naruto a very cynical look._

"_Please sir," Naruto began to plead, "Please let me, we've been through a lot together, and I love her very much"_

"_Love eh? How does someone as young as yourself know what love is?"_

"_Sir, I am an orphan and a demon carrier," both Hinata and Hanabi cringed at hearing this, "I have lived without love for much of my life. When it finally does come along, I know because it is totally opposite of what I have experienced before."_

"_Naruto, you make a good argument, however, there are flaws. A man who is locked in a room with total darkness will not recognize the light as light when he is finally free but rather something foreign. In the same way you cannot recognize love for what it is just because you have only experienced the opposite." Naruto cringed at having his wise-sounding idea so easily rebuked. "Furthermore," continued the Hyuga head, "You're track record suggests that you are an over-hyper prankster with an unhealthy love of ramen."_

"_Having ADD shouldn't be a problem right? And also I'll have you know, ramen tastes very good" Naruto said defensively, then realizing how rude his comment sounded added, " oh sorry…sir…". Hiashi continued as if there was no interruption._

"_On the other hand, you have shown character, and help anyone in need. Also, the fact that you are the most likely candidate to be the Hokage's successor cannot be ignored. You understand that the branch house is giving me a lot of pressure into not allowing this right?" at this Naruto nodded. "I have taken these things into consideration and this is my final judgment." Naruto and Hinata both held there breathe. "I will allow you to court my daughter but you will adhere to a strict regulation". Naruto didn't care about any regulation, the Hyuga clan was allowing him to date Hinata. Both teenagers could barely contain their excitement._

"_Thank you Hiashi-sama!" A small smile appeared on Hiashi's lips._

_End Flashback_

From that point on, any complaint from a Hyuga about the situation became futile as Hiashi's words to them were law. The head of the Hyuga clan was very fair in allowing what the couple could or could not do. Naruto respected him very much. After that, it all became a wonderful dream for Naruto, and he loved every minute of it.

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Kiba sat quietly in his local Starbucks, coffee in hand. He stayed away from the large crowd at the front desk who were waiting for their $4 latte. Instead he sat in the back corner of the coffee shop feeling sorry for himself. Three and a half years had passed since he first sought after Hinata. With time, he had learned that a relationship with her could not happen. After he accepted that fact, Kiba was finally able to accept Naruto and Hinata's relationship. Kiba really was excited for the two of them but deep down, there was still an empty hole. That special someone was still missing from his life. In fact, Kiba was rather envious of Naruto. Here he was trying to find a partner and Naruto strolls in and just 'picks one off a tree'. Still, there was nothing he could do except congratulating the couple. Sure, he could try and break the two of them up but what would that accomplish except both of them hating him and each other? After taking a sip of his caramel macchiato, Kiba held the cup in front of his face letting the warmth of the coffee seep through the cup and into his hand. "_It must be nice to be coffee,"_ he thought to himself, "millions of people love you almost to the point of obsession… and me? I sit here alone…"

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Three years had passed since that fateful night, Three years since Aira had kidnapped Hinata, and Three years after Hinata and Naruto had started dating. For Hinata, it was three years of bliss. She now found herself next to Naruto, the man of her dreams, watching the stars. Every time she thought about her relationship with Naruto it sent chills down her back. She was getting married to Naruto in two days! She chuckled when she remembered how Naruto purposed to her.

_Flashback:_

_Naruto and Hinata walked down a small dirt path. They were returning from a delightful lunch together, and were planning on spending the rest of the afternoon walking in the park. Suddenly, Naruto stopped and turned in front of Hinata. Taking both of her hands Naruto looked deep into Hinata's eyes. He looked unsure of what to say and began stumbling over words._

"_um… Hina-chan, I was wondering, er… actually, I want you to know… wait, no…" Slightly amused at Naruto's uncharacteristic loss of words Hinata quietly encouraged her boyfriend._

"_Y-yes?" She had never quite lost her charming habit of stuttering._

"_Well, what I'm trying to say is…" Hinata tried to stop from laughing at Naruto's uncomfortable situation. Her cheeks were rosy and she was failing to hide her giggle. Fed up with not knowing what to say, Naruto took the direct approach._

" _Tsunade just told me this morning that she's going to make me her predecessor."_

"_That's wonderful Naruto-kun! I'm so happy for you!" Hinata exclaimed._

"_Hina-chan," Naruto continued, "I would love it if you where there with me."_

"_Of-f course I'll b-be with you; I'll n-never leave you…"_

"_No, you don't understand what I mean." A puzzled look came across Hinata's face._

"_I know that we're both only nineteen and that this is all so sudden but… ah shoot" forgetting the formalities Naruto got down on one knee and took a small blue box out of his kunai pouch. Opening the box he produced a ring made of gold adorned with bright diamonds. _

"_Hyuga Hinata, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me? Tears of joy welled up in Hinata's eyes. After what seemed like an eternity for Naruto, Hinata, unable to say anything, gave a small nod. Relief filled Naruto's heart. Taking Hinata into his arms, Naruto kissed her on the forehead. Both stood there, in the center of an old dirt road, neither daring to let go in fear that it was all but a dream, embracing each other as if grasping life itself…_

_End Flashback_

Noticing the small giggle coming from Hinata's lips, Naruto looked down lovingly, pulling her closer to him. He wanted to cherish each and every moment he could with Hinata because as a shinobi, his life could be taken away from him at any moment. Time together would decrease even more when he became Hokage. It was one of the main factors when he decided on hosting the wedding two days before becoming Hokage, but now that he thought back, it seemed like a foolish idea. _"Oh well,"_ he thought to himself _"I'll enjoy it for all it's worth… which will be quite a bit"_. Naruto pulled Hinata in and kissed her on the forehead, then remembering how he had done the same after his proposal, and smiled at the thought.

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Tsunade sat at her desk sorting through documents and sneaking a sip of sake here and there. Her thoughts, however, were nowhere near her papers. Instead, she was thinking of How Naruto was taking over the Hokage spot so she could retire. Four more days until she was finally free of all her responsibilities, free to drink as much sake as she wanted. She felt sorry for Naruto. Never again would he be free to get Ramen whenever he wanted. Even worse was the fact that he would not be able to spend time with his wife-to-be alone. Her thoughts drifted toward the talk of the village, the union between the future head of the Hyuga clan and the ramen eating loud mouth. She prayed everyday to Kami-sama for his blessings over the couple. "Kami-sama," she began, "Bless Naruto and Hinata. Both of them have had to fight through so many difficulties. Now they are going to get married! Help them to fall deeper and deeper in love with each other, and as the years go by, allow them to build a bond able to withstand all the onslaughts life may throw at them."

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A yawn escaped a drowsy Hinata signaling the two love birds to finally retire back home. Reluctantly Naruto sat up while Hinata rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Slowly, Naruto helped Hinata to her feet.

"N-naruto-kun," "d-don't you think i-it's a little c-cold?" Hinata said stuttering both from habit and the cold. Pulling Hinata close to his body, Naruto silently took off his overcoat and gently wrapped it around his fiancée.

"Is that better?" asked Naruto. Hinata rested her head on Naruto's chest, and responded with a quiet "uh huh". They stood there for a moment, hearts perfectly in sync.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata asked breaking the silence, "why do you love me?'

"Why do I love you? Because you are the most beautiful person in the world." Hinata looked down-trodden.

"Naruto-kun," she began, "that's exactly what Kiba said…"

"Hina-chan, I think you misunderstand me. Yes, outwardly you are more beautiful then any other person, but that is not what I was referring to. I was referring to your heart Hina-chan. Inwardly, Your beauty shines like… like… an angel! Hina-chan, you are my angel!" Hinata's face beamed with pride. Inside, she asked the agkelos "_did you hear that?! Naruto-kun called me an angel!"_ As she smiled, her inner beauty shone for all to see, so that she looked even more like an angel. Naruto gazed fondly at her and couldn't believe how lucky he was to have her. He leaned over and gave her a peck on the lips. Catching her hand, the two of them began walking down the street.

To be continued…

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AN- This marks the beginning of the end. Unfortunately, my life catches up with me again. Chapter 8 may be a while off yet, but never fear! I will not abandon this story (Unless I die or something like that). Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Feedback would be appreciated. Thank you **Kovva**, and **Krissy-chan** for your time and ideas. That's it...


	8. Chapter 8

Note: I don't own Naruto, but a person can dream can't they?

_flashback_

_"thinking"_

"talking"

Chapter 8 – Two Paths

by Zynthos

"Ah! Ramen tastes so good in the morning!" cried Naruto in a sing-song voice. "Oy! Another bowl old man!"

"Alright, another bowl for the best customer!" The man sitting next to Naruto let out a chuckle.

"You know," Iruka said, "I'm looking forward to when you become Hokage and finally treat me to a bowl or two." Naruto flashed a wide smile, and finished what was left of his ramen. The air was filled with an awkward silence as the men waited for the next bowl to arrive.

"Naruto," Iruka said, finally breaking the silence, "are you worried about becoming Hokage? It's a big responsibility."

"Nah" responded a nonchalant Naruto "I was destined to be Hokage. This is my dream and now I'm going to fulfill it no matter what anybody says." A moment of silence passed before Naruto continued. His attitude, however, had now totally changed.

"Iruka-sensei? Have you ever wanted something really bad and when you finally reached your goal it wasn't as satisfying as you thought it would be?"

"Hmm… there was that one time I was really hungry and waited three whole minutes for instant ramen. When I finally put the noodles in my mouth the taste was a great disappointment" Iruka jokingly answered.

"Iruka-sensei!" a slightly miffed looking Naruto cried.

"Sorry, couldn't help it" the older man apologized.

"Whatever…" mumbled the younger.

"Let me think. Oh, you may not know this but when I was younger my dream was to be a top member in ANBU black."

"Really!"

"Yeah… my parents were both ANBU and I looked up to them both so much. After they passed away I worked harder than ever to reach my goal. Eventually I reached the point where I was nominated to become a Jounin and began training as an ANBU. However, all nominees had to work as a substitute teacher at the ninja academy for a week. I thought that was the stupidest thing, wasting time with a bunch of kids who didn't know half of what it took to become a shinobi. Well, long story short I don't know what happened but I fell in love with teaching, preparing the next generation with the tools to protect this village; it's my contribution to the Will of Fire. As for joining ANBU, it never really held the same meaning afterwards. I had found my real passion." Naruto sat there listening attentively to his mentor, a new bowl of ramen, unnoticed, slowly cooling on the on counter-top. "I don't know if that answers your question, Naruto, but I've known you too long for you to hide anything from me. I know that you have some doubts about becoming Hokage, but you've known me long enough to know that you can tell me anything." With that Iruka waited patiently for his former pupil to collect his thoughts.

"It's like this" Naruto started, "When I was little all I wanted was to be Hokage so that the villagers would notice me, and more importantly my good side; that was it. But now… now, there's so much more… I don't know if I'm up to the task. How am I supposed to consider people who have never shown me anything but hate family? On top of that I have Hinata to worry about. Iruka-sensei, my wedding day is tomorrow! How can I possibly give her the amount of love she deserves when I have to take care of everyone else?" Iruka paused before giving his answer.

"It's true that there are people out there who would like nothing better than to kill you, but Naruto, how many people care for you? It's also true that if you continue to give out your love you will eventually burn out, but how many people are willing to return your love? Granted, friends will fail you, I will fail you, even Hinata will fail you, gosh, you'd have to be a god to not fail someone, sometime. But even so, some of us are willing to back you up no matter what the cost." Blankly looking down at the counter in front of him, Naruto took some time to digest what had just been said. With a small nod he looked up into the eyes of his mentor and friend and with all sincerity gave the most fitting response.

"Thank-you…"

--

Four young ladies sat around in their favorite café sipping their respective beverages.

"I can't believe out of the four of us, you're going to be the first to get married!" screeched Ino before taking a large sip of iced tea.

Hinata tried to shrink as the other three girls carried on what they considered to be a conversation, what others considered noise. It was bad enough that the three of them had to embarrass her so much, but couldn't they at least quiet down a little? The whole village didn't have to know. Sakura let out a short squeal while the other two giggled like idiots. _"Guess not"_ she thought to herself. At least _"Ten-Ten isn't as bad,"_ Hinata tried to convince herself. Ten-Ten, however, was not giving much support, as she was too busy using her straw to blow bubbles in her milkshake like a four-year-old. Never-the-less it was the truth. If her cousin could put up with Ten-Ten enough to date her she had to be some what conservative. For some reason the thought of Neji and Ten-Ten together struck her as funny. Even though the two of them had been a couple for more than two years, it was still funny to think that even Neji, the most stoic person she knew, could fall head-over-heels for a girl. _"I guess love really does conquer all,"_ she thought to herself with a smirk.

"Hey Hinata! Everything is ready for tomorrow, right?" Sakura said, breaking Hinata's train of thought.

"Y-yes… I think so…"

"Wait, you're not sure?!" Ino asked in disbelief. Hinata blushed out of embarrassment.

"Tha-that's n-not what I m-meant…"

"Oh come on guys," Ten-Ten assured, "knowing the Hyuga clan, they've already planned out the next ten years of her life."

"Not-t that l-long..." Hinata whispered to no one in particular.

"Man, it must stink to have such little freedom, heh?" cried Sakura

"I-it's not s-so bad-d," Hinata defended, "you g-get used t-to it-t".

"It would kill me," countered Ino. "I feel so bad for Naruto having to put up with the Hyuga system. How does he handle it?" Hinata smiled.

"He waits patiently outside the Hyuga compound for me to finish whatever I need to finish".

"Wow… I can't imagine Naruto patient," Sakura said amazed.

"Actually," Ten-Ten said, "You should see him wait. It about drives him mad. He's claimed to have started writing fanfics with all the extra time. I've kept him company a couple times and he acknowledges that patience is not a strong point of his, but says it's all worth the effort". Sakura and Ino both gave an "aw". Hinata just smiled and thought happy thoughts.

"Hm," Sakura thought aloud, "I wonder if Kenji would do the same for me?" Everyone laughed. Sakura had recently started dating an older Jounin. Hinata had to admit the two of them were a good looking couple, and Kenji was pretty cute. Of course she would never tell Naruto that. _"Besides"_ she thought to herself, _"Naruto is way better looking anyways."_

She then noticed, out of the corner of eye, the depressed look on Ino's face.

"What's wrong?" Hinata asked worriedly.

"Oh, nothing"

"Whatever, Ino!" Sakura chimed in. "It's because you don't have a boyfriend isn't it!"  
"Shut up!"

"Ha!" Sakura cried out in victory. Not many 'secrets' stayed secrets when it came to these four, so it had been made known Ino had a crush on Shikamaru. Then one day while the other three were having lunch together Ino burst into the restaurant crying.

_Flashback:_

_Sakura, Ten-Ten, and Hinata were having an enjoyable lunch when a loud crash sounded from the front. Ino came tearing through the restaurant knocking over a now dismayed looking waitress. As she ran closer to the girls they could see tears streaming down her face. They didn't even have time to ask what was wrong before Ino started ranting._

"_I can't believe that b-"_

"_Whoa, slow down there" Ten-Ten said as she tried to calm Ino down, "who are we talking about?"_

"_Temari" venom dripping with every syllable, "she must have done something to him or som-"_

"_Wait who?" Sakura interrupted._

"_Shikamaru" Ino's attitude had suddenly changed and now she started to wail._

"_Before Te… she went back to Suna they… they…"_

"_they what?"_

"_Kissed!"_

_End Flashback_

"Then again" Sakura continued smirk, "I'm sure you've found another crush by now." Ino's face turned red.

"See, I know her too well" Sakura commented nonchalantly.

"Oh! Oh! Tell me, tell me. Who is it?!" Ten-Ten squealed at the news of fresh gossip.

"Yes," Hinata added, more relieved at stopping her own examination than interested in who Ino's next 'target' would be.

"Well…" Ino shook her head like a giddy high school girl.

"Come on!" the other three girls cried. They awaited the words cute, gorgeous, or the all purpose 'hunkcicle'.

"Well… he'll be loyal?" Ino answered with the most excited half shrug imaginable.

--

Naruto opened the door and walked into the Hokage's office. _"I wonder what this is about,"_ he thought to himself. After all, it was a day before his wedding and three days before he was to be announced Hokage. _"This had better not be a mission"_ he complained to himself. Mumbling Naruto walked up to Tsunade.

"Obaa-chan" he hollered, "what do you want?" Tsunade chuckled.

"_Huh?"_ Naruto wondered, _"Did she just laugh when I called her an old fart? That's not right. Usually I at least get 'the look'"_ "Um… Obaa- I mean Tsunade-sama, is something wrong with you? Are you sick?" Tsunade chuckled again.

"No, I really am getting old, which is exactly why I'm retiring."

"Really? You admit it?"

"Yes…" stress marks began to appear on Tsunade's forehead.

"So you're going to drop your henge and show your true self, complete with wrinkly skin, graying hair, sagging fa-" Naruto found himself imbedded into the wall.

"Stop rubbing it in, baka" Tsunade cursed at Naruto threatening to pound him a couple more times just for good measure. After she had sealed Naruto's mouth with death glares Tsunade continued with the order of business.

"Look, the reason I brought you in here has to do with you becoming hokage" she started, still a bit annoyed with the loud youth. "There seems to be a problem".

"It's the villagers isn't it?!" Naruto interjected before she could continue. Tsunade silently counted to ten before continuing. The bulging veins on her neck reminded Naruto to shut his mouth unless he wanted to be reacquainted with the wall.

"No. It's actually Hinata…"

"What!?"

"She is a liability."

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

"It means that she could potentially be the weak link in your chain mail."

"She is not weak, and besides, I don't wear chain mail."

"I don't care if you don't wear underwear, the point is, either she goes, or the Hokage title goes."

Abruptly, the verbal tennis match froze.

"What did you say?" Naruto spit out between clinched teeth.

"I said," repeated Tsunade very deliberately, "it's either going to be your fiancée, or your future."

--

Hinata sat down on the cream colored chair; this time it felt as if the seat was actually a cloud. After three years it had almost become routine for her to enter the state of mind controlled by the agkelos, and yet, each time it was a new, refreshing experience. Hinata had come, this time, because of the anxiety she faced. Tomorrow was her wedding day and even though everything had been planned out thanks to her father, she still had a strange feeling inside of her.

"Please child," the agkelos began, "what is troubling you?"

"Well, I don't know why I'm feeling this way, but I'm almost having second thoughts about this marriage."

"Oh?" the former said, slight amusement in his voice, "why is that?"

"I don't know, but I feel really guilty about it."

"Child, a second thought is nothing more then fear that the first thought was wrong. The question now becomes whether these fears are based on something worth fearing."

"I don't think I follow…"

"Think of it this way. Why did you agree to marry him?" Hinata looked puzzled.

"Well, because I love him." Patiently, the agkelos further explained himself

"what specifically do you love about him? If you only love the idea of Naruto, you're going to be very disappointed because there will be times when the spark just isn't there."

"Well, he's so sure of himself… and cares about people."

"I could say that about Jiriaya". Hinata immediately stuck her tongue out in disgust at the thought of being married to the legendary pervert.

"Eww, that's gross!"

"Sorry" the agkelos replied a slight chuckle.

"Well for starters, he's a lot better looking then Jiriaya," Hinata replied in retaliation. "He's strong, yet he's tender at the same time…"

"Sounds like a good piece of steak" the agkelos interrupted

"Shut up!" Hinata playfully shouted.

"Sorry," apologized the agkelos, this time with a full grin. "However, that list of yours is beginning to sound pretty good".

"Thanks. Let's see," continued Hinata "I feel safe when I'm with him. He loves me for who I am and hasn't ever tried to change me. He used to be immature but now he has become a real man. He's honest with me, and," a spark lit up in Hinata's eyes and a smirk came to her lips, "he's crazy about me". The agkelos smiled at the last comment.

"Now, does your list describe a person worth marrying?" Hinata thought about it for a moment and nodded her head.

"I agree. Child, I believe your fears are based on the unknown in the future, which can be frightening, but if Naruto is the person you described, I believe there is no reason to second guess yourself."

"…thank-you. Though I do have one question"

"Yes?"

"Since you are an agkelos I didn't know you could joke around like that. Did you play around like that before?"

"…"

"What?"

"…that's what she said…"

--

Naruto sat with his head down across the desk from the Hokage. The look of despair on his face was as if the whole world was crashing down on him. For all he cared, it might as well have been.

"Are you sure there are no other options?" Naruto pleaded

"Yes," came the strict response from the Hokage. After a moment of silence that seemed like eternity, Naruto finally opened his mouth.

"Tsunade, it's been my dream since as long as I can remember to become Hokage. I've worked so hard to get into a position to fulfill my dream. I was going to be Hokage so that everyone in the village would recognize me as someone great. But now I've realized that dreams can change. I don't care if the village recognizes me. I don't need it any more. It's nothing compared to what Hina-chan has become to me." Tears were slowly trickling down his face. "She is so unselfish, and puts everyone in front of herself. She has a gentle spirit, is caring to everyone she meets, and loves me unconditionally. I wouldn't trade her for anything, not even a dream. She's not only become my new dream, but my dream come true too. I'm sorry, but I can not accept the position of Hokage." With that, Naruto limply lifted his body from the chair and slowly trudged to the door. The door opened with a creak. It seemed as if it was sharing Naruto's pain and was trying to express its sorrow. Naruto silently thanked it.

"If there was a way for you to still be Hokage, would you take it?" Tsunade asked in a concerned tone.

"I would take it in a heartbeat, but we both know that it isn't possible. My whole heart belongs to Hinata now."

"That's what I wanted to hear." Naruto looked up in shock and confusion.

"What's the meaning of this 'Baa-chan?" demanded Naruto. Tsunade just stood there with a knowing smirk.

"Naruto, you have passed my final requirement."

"Nani!?"

"Many people describe the role of Hokage as the leader of the village, but that is only half true. More importantly, Hokage is the servant of the village. In order to accomplish this, the Hokage must love the people of the village more than the position and power he or she possesses." Naruto stood there dumbfounded for a second before regaining his composure.

"Does this mean that I can be Hokage and marry Hina-chan?"

"Yep."

"Then what would have happened had I chosen to become Hokage instead?"

"You would have been a miserable Hokage."

"Why you…" Naruto started, fists clinched, ready to give Tsunade a piece of his mind. He never reached her as he stopped when they both heard Shizune knocking on the already opened door.

"I'm sorry to disturb your little slugfest Naruto, but we have just apprehended someone you both might want to see."

To be continued…

--

AN- I know that I haven't been updating as often as everyone would have liked and for that I am sorry. At this point, as much as I hate leaving this story unfinished, the writing of this story has become a great burdon for me. Nevertheless I will try my hardest to bring this story to a sufficiant close. I am really in debted to **Krissy-Chan** for kicking my proverbial butt and pressing for me to finish this thing as well as spending her time to edit this chapter. Thanks all for reading and again, any input would be happily recieved. That's about it...


End file.
